Top Spending for High-Income Households ($200K+)

The top-ranked category in this list is Housing at $44,033, followed by Personal insurance and pensions ($27,279) and Transportation ($25,378). In total, this ranking covers 14 spending categories drawn from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey.

High-income households ($200K+) spend about 2.5x the national average in absolute terms, but the composition differs. They allocate a much larger share to personal insurance and pensions (retirement savings), entertainment, and education. Housing takes a smaller percentage even though the absolute amount is much higher. Understanding high-income spending patterns reveals how discretionary income is deployed when basic needs are comfortably met.

The spread between the top-ranked Housing ($44,033) and the bottom-ranked Tobacco products and smoking supplies ($267) 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, Census 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.