Household Spending Guide
How Much Do Americans Spend on Housing by Income Level?
Housing is the single largest expense for American households at every income level. But while wealthier households spend more in dollars, lower-income households spend a far larger share of their budget on keeping a roof overhead.
Housing Cost Burden by Income Quintile (2024)
Housing as a share of total spending, by income fifth
Lower-income households carry the heaviest housing burden
| Income Group | Housing Spending | Housing Share |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest 20% | $14,563 | 41.6% |
| Second 20% | $19,174 | 38.3% |
| Middle 20% | $24,093 | 36.0% |
| Fourth 20% | $29,374 | 32.6% |
| Highest 20% | $44,033 | 29.3% |
Key Findings
- The housing cost burden is highest for low-income households. The lowest-income quintile spends roughly 40-45% of all expenditures on housing - well above the commonly cited 30% affordability threshold.
- High-income households spend more in dollars, but far less as a share. The top 20% may spend 2-3x more on housing in absolute terms, but it represents a smaller fraction of their total budget.
- Housing costs include more than rent or mortgage. The CEX housing category includes utilities, maintenance, household operations, furnishings, and housekeeping supplies, not just shelter costs.
What Is Included in "Housing"?
The BLS housing category is broader than just rent or mortgage payments. It includes:
- Shelter (rent, mortgage interest, property taxes, homeowner's insurance)
- Utilities (electricity, gas, water, telephone)
- Household operations (domestic services, childcare)
- Housekeeping supplies
- Household furnishings and equipment
Explore more: Full Housing Category Data · All Income Quintile Data
Data Notes
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey 2024.
Compiled by the " research team.
Income quintiles are based on pre-tax income. Figures are averages, not medians.The burden gap, in real numbers
The contrast is starkest at the extremes. In 2024 the lowest-income fifth spent $14,563 a year on housing - 41.6% of its entire budget, above HUD's 30% cost-burden threshold, while the highest-income fifth spent $44,033 (29.3% of its budget). The top fifth spends far more in dollars, yet housing claims a much smaller share of its income, the textbook signature of a necessity, and the reason the lower-fifth's share is the figure that matters for affordability. The HUD thresholds below put those shares in context.
HUD cost-burden thresholds and the 30% rule of thumb
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses two formal thresholds for measuring housing cost burden. These thresholds drive eligibility for federal housing assistance, qualification for some mortgage programs, and most academic research on housing affordability:
| HUD classification | Housing share of household income | Practical implications |
|---|---|---|
| Not cost-burdened | Below 30% | Considered affordable under HUD definition |
| Cost-burdened | 30% to 50% | Limited ability to cover non-housing essentials |
| Severely cost-burdened | Above 50% | High eviction/foreclosure risk; food and medical sacrifices common |
Definitions per HUD User "Affordable Housing" methodology (huduser.gov). State and local programs may set tighter thresholds.
Limitations and Caveats
Several constraints warrant emphasis when drawing inferences from these figures. Sampling error, nonresponse bias, and imputation procedures each introduce quantifiable uncertainty that propagates through derived statistics. Confidence intervals, where published by the collecting agency, should be consulted before attributing significance to small differences between observations.
The taxonomy used to classify entities, expenditures, or incidents evolves periodically. A category redefinition between consecutive releases can produce apparent discontinuities that reflect classification changes rather than genuine behavioral shifts. longitudinal analyses must verify category stability across the studied interval.
Suppression rules applied to protect confidentiality may eliminate observations from sparsely populated strata. This differential suppression disproportionately affects rural counties, small institutions, and minority subgroups, systematically biasing the observable distribution toward larger, more urbanized populations. Researchers should note that absence of a data point may signify suppression rather than a true zero.
Where to go next
See how your own household compares to these BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey figures.
- Find your spending percentile against the national income quintiles. Budget calculator
- Explore the full breakdown by category, income, age, and region. All categories
- Save the categories you want to track to your private watchlist. Save categories
All figures are national-average BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey data; individual households vary.
