Consumer units in the South Region spent an average of $71,606 per year in 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table 1.) Food, housing, and transportation expenditures together accounted for 65.3 percent of the region’s consumer unit expenditures. (See table 2.) Nationally, these three components accounted for 63.4 percent of consumer unit spending.

Average annual expenditures among the other three regions were $92,733 in the West, $81,345 in the Midwest, and $91,698 in the Northeast. Nationally, average annual expenditures were $81,905.

Chart 1. Shares of average expenditures for selected major components in the United States and the South, 2025

Category	United States	South
Housing	33.9	33.9
Transportation	16.5	19.0
Food	13.0	12.4
Personal insurance and pensions	12.4	12.4
Healthcare	7.9	8.5
Entertainment	5.0	3.9
Cash contributions	2.7	2.6
Apparel and services	2.5	2.2
Education	1.9	1.4

View Chart Data

Highlights of the South region’s 2025 spending patterns:

• Housing: This was the largest expenditure component for South consumer units and averaged $24,280. Housing accounted for 33.9 percent of the region’s consumer unit expenditures, same as the 33.9-percent national average. (See chart 1.)
• Transportation: South area consumer units spent 19.0 percent of their total expenditures on transportation. The national average was 16.5 percent. Of the $13,589 in annual transportation expenditures in the South, 94.0 percent was spent buying and maintaining private vehicles; this compared to the national average of 91.1 percent.
• Food: The portion of a South consumer unit’s spending on food was 12.4 percent, compared to the 13.0-percent U.S. average. South consumer units spent $5,280, or 59.5 percent of their food dollars on food at home and $3,593 (40.5 percent) on food away from home. Nationwide, the average consumer unit spent 61.0 percent of its food dollars on food at home and 39.0 percent on food away from home.
• Personal insurance and pensions: South area consumer unit spent 12.4 percent, or $8,913, of their budget on personal insurance and pensions. The national average was 12.4 percent, or $10,175.
   

Additional Information

Data in this release are from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE), which the U.S. Census Bureau conducts for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data for the nation and the four geographic regions of the United States are available via published tables. Sample sizes for the regions are smaller than for the nation, so the U.S. estimates and year-to-year changes are more reliable than those for the regions. Differences in spending among regions may reflect differences in the cost of living, but they also may reflect other causes.

The terms consumer unit, family, and household are often used interchangeably for convenience. However, the proper technical term for purposes of the CE data is consumer unit. Consumer units consist of families, single persons living alone or sharing a household with others but who are financially independent, or two or more persons living together who share major expenses. The CE provides a glossary of terms for reader convenience.

Technical and related information are available in the Consumer Expenditures and Income Handbook of Methods.

The South region comprises Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Region definitions and details for areas referenced in this release are available online.

Other regional news releases for the Consumer Expenditure Surveys are available online.

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