The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program consists of two surveys, the Quarterly Interview Survey and the Diary Survey, that provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. The survey data are collected for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The CE is important because it is the only Federal survey to provide information on the complete range of consumers' expenditures and incomes, as well as the characteristics of those consumers. It is used by economic policymakers examining the impact of policy changes on economic groups, by businesses and academic researchers studying consumers' spending habits and trends, by other Federal agencies, and, perhaps most importantly, to regularly revise the Consumer Price Index market basket of goods and services and their relative importance.

The most recent data tables are for 2010, and were made available on September 27, 2011. See Featured CE Tables and Economic News Releases sections on the CE home page for current data tables and news release.

The 2010 public-use microdata is the most recent and was released on September 27, 2011.

Announcements

Next Release: September 25, 2012

2011 CE tabular data and free downloadable public-use microdata (PUMD) are scheduled to be released on September 25, 2012, at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time.

On This Page

 

CE News Releases

Consumer Expenditures

September 27, 2011
Average annual expenditures per consumer unit fell 2.0 percent in 2010 following a decrease of 2.8 percent in 2009. Spending on food and housing fell 3.8 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively, contributing to the overall drop in spending in 2010.

Reports

CE Databases

CE Database

Database Name Special
Notice		 Top
Picks		 One
Screen		 Multi-
Screen		 Tables Text Files
Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE)
     One Screen Data Search Multi Screen Data Search Tables Text Files

 

More Tools

  • Series Report--Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.
  • Text files (FTP)--For those who want it all. Download a flat file of the entire database or large subset of the database.

Featured CE Tables

Tables

2010

CURRENT EXPENDITURE TABLES

  • Age of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Composition of consumer unit — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Education of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Higher income before taxes — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Housing tenure and type of area — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Income before taxes — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Number of earners in consumer unit — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Occupation of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Population size of area of residence — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Quintiles of income before taxes — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Race of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Region of residence — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Size of consumer unit — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Selected age of reference person — ( TXT) (PDF) (XLS)

Previous Years: 1984 to 2010 »

CURRENT EXPENDITURE SHARES TABLES

  • Age of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Composition of consumer unit — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Education of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Higher income before taxes — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Housing tenure and type of area — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Income before taxes — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Number of earners in consumer unit — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Occupation of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Quintiles of income before taxes — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Race of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Region of residence — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Size of consumer unit — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)

Previous Years: 1989 to 2010

CURRENT AGGREGATE EXPENDITURE SHARES TABLES

  • Age of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Composition of consumer unit — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Education of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Higher income before taxes — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Housing tenure and type of area — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Income before taxes — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Number of earners in consumer unit — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Occupation of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Quintiles of income before taxes — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Race of reference person — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Region of residence — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Size of consumer unit — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)

Previous Years: 1989 to 2010 »

CURRENT STANDARD ERROR TABLES

  • Age of reference person (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Composition of consumer unit (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Education of reference person (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Higher income before taxes (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Hispanic or Latino origin of reference person (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Housing tenure and type of area (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Income before taxes (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Number of earners in consumer unit (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Occupation of reference person (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Quintiles of income before taxes (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Race of reference person (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)
  • Size of consumer unit (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)

Previous Years: 2000 to 2010 »

2006 to 2010

MOST RECENT MULTIYEAR TABLE

  • 2006-2010 Multiyear table — (TXT) (PDF) (XLS)

Previous Years: 1984 to 2010 »

Additional CE Data Tables »

CE Microdata

CE Survey Forms

Current Survey Forms

All CE Survey Forms »

CE Publications

CE Frequently Asked Questions

People Are Asking...

  1. Does BLS have information about household spending on cell phone services?
  2. What is the most recent Consumer Expenditure Survey Annual Report?
  3. Does the CE have a glossary with definitions of survey terms, as well as descriptions of the types of items in the components of expenditures and income?
  4. How do I contact the CE group?
  5. Are CE standard error tables available?
  6. How do you use the standard errors in the CE?
  7. How does income imputation affect CE publications?

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is the Consumer Expenditure Survey?
  2. How is the Consumer Expenditure Survey used?
  3. What is a consumer unit?
  4. Who is the reference person?
  5. What types of data are available and in what form?
  6. What geographic areas are covered?
  7. Is income information available from other sources?
  8. Does the Consumer Expenditure Survey include information on assets and liabilities?
  9. Are historical data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey available?
  10. How are the Consumer Expenditure Survey data collected?

All CE FAQs »

CE Events in Your Area

CE is Coming to Your Town!

As part of ongoing outreach efforts, CE staff attend conferences outside the Washington, DC area when circumstances permit. You may be interested in attending their presentations, or in arranging for a CE staff member to visit your organization. To see a list of upcoming or past events, click on the links below.

CE Related Links

Other BLS Programs

  • Consumer Price Indexes --monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.
  • Price and Index Number Research experimental poverty measures -- CE data are used to estimate National Academy of Sciences (NAS) based poverty measures and a Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)

Other Useful Links

Contact Us

Methods of Contact

The economists and administrative personnel of the Consumer Expenditure Survey staff are available Monday through Friday to respond to inquiries. Please use any of the methods below to contact the CE National Office. Inquiries should include your name, and phone number, fax number, mailing address, or e-mail address, along with a brief message.

Telephone
    (202) 691-6900

Incoming calls are connected to the office's voice mail and answered promptly.  

FAX
    (202) 691-7006
 

Mail
    Bureau of Labor Statistics
   Consumer Expenditure Surveys — Branch of Information and Analysis
    Postal Square Building, Room 3985
    2 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E.
    Washington, DC 20212-0001
 

E Mail
  Contact us