Consumer units¹ in theBaltimore-Towson, Md., metropolitan area spent an average of $62,262 per year in 2011-2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that this figure was over 23 percent higher than the $50,581 average expenditure level for a typical household in the United States. Not only did households in the Baltimore area spend more than the U.S. average,they allocated their dollars differently among the major categories, differing significantly in 3 of the 8. For example, the share of expenditures for healthcare, which accounted for 6.0 percent of a typical household’s budget in the Baltimore area, was significantly lower than the nationwide average of 6.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.) 

 

Housing in the Baltimore area averaged $21,031 annually and was the largest expenditure category, accounting for 33.8 percent of a Baltimore-area household’s total budget. (See table 1 and table 2.) This share was similar to the 33.3-percent national average. Overall, 8 of the 18 published metropolitan areas had expenditure shares for housing significantly above the U.S. average while 3 had significantly lower-than-average shares. (See chart 2.) Housing expenditures among the 18 areas ranged from 39.7 percent in New York to 31.7 percent in Detroit. (See table 3.)

The majority of housing expenditures in Baltimore went toward shelter, 61.1 percent, which includes mortgage interest, property taxes, repairs, and rent, among other items; nationwide, 58.5 percent of the average housing budget was allocated for shelter. (See table A.) Utilities, fuels, and public services expenses accounted for 20.5 percent of the housing budget locally; nationally, they made up 21.9 percent. The rate of homeownership in Baltimore, at 72 percent, was above the U.S. average of 65 percent.

Baltimore households spent 14.9 percent of their annual budget on personal insurance and pensions, significantly above the national average of 10.9 percent, making this the second-largest expenditure category for the area’s consumer units.

At 13.7 percent of the total budget, transportation was the third-largest expenditure category in the Baltimore area and was significantly lower than the national average of 17.1 percent. Among the 18 metropolitan areas nationwide, 8 (including Baltimore) had below-average transportation shares; only Houston had a significantly above-average transportation share. (See chart 3.)

Of the $8,532 in annual expenditures for transportation in Baltimore, 92.5 percent was spent buying and maintaining private vehicles; this compared to the national average of 93.9 percent. The remaining 7.5 percent of a Baltimore household’s transportation budget was spent on public transit, which includes fares for taxis, buses, trains, and planes—this allocation was above the 6.1-percent average for the nation. (See table B.) The average number of vehicles per household in Baltimore (1.8) was very close to the national average (1.9).

The portion of a Baltimore consumer unit’s budget spent on food, 12.7 percent, was close to the 12.9-percent U.S. average. Among the 18 metropolitan areas, 14 had food expenditure shares that were not measurably different from the nationwide average, while three others had significantly below-average shares. Only Los Angeles had a significantly above-average food expenditure share. (See table 3.)

Households in Baltimore spent $4,382, or 55.4 percent, of their food dollars on food prepared at home and the remaining 45.6 percent on food prepared away from home, such as restaurant meals, carry-out, board at school, and catered affairs. In comparison, the typical U.S. household spent 59.4 percent of its food budget on food prepared at home and 40.6 percent on food prepared away from home.

As noted, Baltimore is 1 of 18 metropolitan areas nationwide for which Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) data are available.
Metropolitan area CE data and that for the four geographic regions of the United States are available on our Web site at https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables.htm. Metropolitan area CE news releases are available at https://www.bls.gov/regions/subjects/consumer-spending.htm.