Statistical significance is concerned with our ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. Users should also keep in mind that prices for many goods and services have changed since the survey was conducted.Ī value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. estimates and year-to-year changes are more reliable than those for the metropolitan areas. Sample sizes for the metropolitan areas are much smaller than for the nation, so the U.S. However, expenditure shares, or the percentage of a household’s budget spent on a particular component, can be used to compare spending patterns across areas. Spending differences may result from different consumer preferences or variations in demographic characteristics, such as household size, age, or income levels. The terms household or consumer unit are used interchangeably for convenience.ĭifferences in spending among metropolitan areas may reflect differences in the cost of living, but they also may reflect other causes.

The data in this release were averaged over a 2-year period, 20.Ī household in the CE survey is defined as a consumer unit which includes 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 expenses. Expenditures for this component in the South region ranged from $12,683 in Washington, D.C, to $6,087 in Miami.ĭata in this release are from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), which the U.S. Personal Insurance and Pensions: Households in Dallas spent an average of $8,018, or 12.8 percent of their budget on personal insurance and pensions, significantly higher than the national average of 11.8 percent.household spent 65.3 percent of its food budget on food at home and 34.7 percent on food away from home. Dallas-area households spent $3,506, or 58.2 percent, of their food dollars on food at home and $2,521 (41.8 percent) on food away from home. Food: The portion of a Dallas household’s budget spent on food, 9.6 percent, was significantly lower than the 12.2-percent U.S.Of the $10,943 in annual transportation expenditures in Dallas, 97.2 percent was spent buying and maintaining private vehicles this compared to the national average of 96.6 percent. Transportation: Dallas-area households spent 17.5 percent of their budget on transportation, not significantly different than the national average of 16.2 percent.

Housing expenditure shares among the 22 published metropolitan areas ranged from 41.9 percent in San Francisco to 30.7 percent in St. Housing accounted for 36.5 percent of the area’s household budget, not significantly different than the 34.3-percent U.S.

Housing: This was the largest expenditure component for Dallas-area households and averaged $22,896.

Highlights of the Dallas area’s 2020-21 spending patterns: Note: An asterisk indicates a statistically significant difference at the 95-percent confidence level. Shares of average expenditures for selected major components in the United States and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, 2020–21 Category

Average household budget