Household spending rankings · BLS CE 2024
Fastest Growing Household Expenses
U.S. household spending categories ranked by growth, which everyday expenses rose fastest from 2023 to 2024 in BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey data.
- Categories ranked
- 14
- #1: Miscellaneous
- 20.7%
- Survey year
- 2024
Spending Insight: Fastest Growing Household Expenses
The top-ranked category in this list is Miscellaneous at 20.7%, followed by Education (17.5%) and Personal care products and services (12.9%). In total, this ranking covers 14 spending categories drawn from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey.
The fastest-growing spending categories reveal where inflation and lifestyle changes are hitting households hardest. Categories with high growth rates may reflect genuine price inflation (healthcare, housing), increased consumption (entertainment, technology), or structural shifts in how households spend. Tracking growth rates helps identify emerging financial pressures before they become crises.
The spread between the top-ranked Miscellaneous (20.7%) and the bottom-ranked Cash contributions (-16.8%) illustrates how uneven household spending is across categories. Rankings like this are most useful when paired with the per-category detail pages, which break spending down by income quintile, age group, region, household size, and housing tenure. Click any category name in the table below to drill into that demographic breakdown and see where your own household might fit within the broader distribution.
Fastest Growing Household Expenses - top 8
Top 8 of 14 categories
Across all 14 categories the median is 8.1%; the smallest on this top 8 is 8.1%.
| # | Category | Growth % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miscellaneous | 20.7% |
| 2 | Education | 17.5% |
| 3 | Personal care products and services | 12.9% |
| 4 | Personal insurance and pensions | 12.1% |
| 5 | Alcoholic beverages | 10.3% |
| 6 | Food | 8.8% |
| 7 | Transportation | 8.3% |
| 8 | Housing | 8.1% |
| 9 | Reading | 6.8% |
| 10 | Healthcare | 5.9% |
| 11 | Entertainment | 4.4% |
| 12 | Apparel and services | 2.9% |
| 13 | Tobacco products and smoking supplies | -5.1% |
| 14 | Cash contributions | -16.8% |
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys - Verify with BLS →. See methodology.
How we calculate this: the percentage change in each category's published annual spend from 2023 to 2024, from the raw BLS figures.
What to do with this ranking
Miscellaneous tops this list, ahead of Education - here's how to put your own household in context.
- Check where your household lands against the national income quintiles. Budget calculator
- See how these categories break down by income, age, and region. All categories
- Save the categories you want to track to your private watchlist. Save categories
Rankings reflect national-average BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey figures; individual households vary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which household expenses are growing fastest?
Healthcare, housing, and transportation costs have shown the strongest growth in recent years, driven by medical inflation, rising rents/home prices, and vehicle cost increases. Food costs spiked during 2022-2023 inflation but have since moderated.
Explore Related Rankings
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Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.