US Households Spent 33.4% on Housing and 17% on Transportation in 2024

Findings

Housing leads at $26,266 per household - 33.4 percent of the $78,535 total

The average U.S. household spent $26,266 on housing in 2024, according to the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, a third (33.4 percent) of the $78,535 total and by far the largest line in the budget. Housing here covers shelter (rent and the owner-equivalent cost of an owned home), utilities, household operations, and furnishings. Housing spending profile shows the full breakdown of those subcomponents. BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, Interview and Diary Surveys, 2024 release

Transportation came next at $13,318, then food at $10,169 and personal insurance and pensions at $9,797. Together with housing, those four categories absorb about three-quarters of the average household budget, leaving the remaining quarter spread across everything else. BLS Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Annual Tables, 2024

Transportation, food, and retirement saving anchor the next three spots

Transportation took 17.0 percent of spending ($13,318), food 12.9 percent ($10,169, split between groceries and restaurants), and personal insurance and pensions 12.5 percent ($9,797). That last figure is worth flagging: it is money set aside for retirement and life insurance, not day-to-day consumption, so the budget devoted to current living costs is a bit smaller than the headline total suggests. Transportation spending profile separates vehicles, fuel, and transit. BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, Interview and Diary Surveys, 2024 release

Healthcare followed at $6,197 (7.9 percent), entertainment at $3,609 (4.6 percent), cash contributions (charity and gifts) at $2,292 (2.9 percent), apparel and services at $2,001 (2.5 percent), and education at $1,569 (2.0 percent). Food spending profile details the at-home versus away-from-home split. BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2024

The smallest categories round out the budget

Below the major categories, the survey records miscellaneous spending at $1,218, personal care products and services at $978, alcoholic beverages at $643, tobacco products at $352, and reading at $125. None individually exceeds 1.6 percent of the budget, but together they round out the full picture of where the typical household's money goes. BLS Division of Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Annual Tables, 2024

Each figure is a national average from the 2024 survey, the most recent full year available. The same categories are tracked back to 2020, so shares can be compared year over year, useful for spotting which costs are claiming a growing slice of household budgets. Data methodology explains how the figures are sourced and compared.

How to read these figures

These numbers come from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, which combines a household spending diary with detailed interviews and weights the results to the full U.S. population using Census Bureau population counts. They are averages across all households, so they do not reveal how spending differs by income, household size, or age, those breakdowns live on the dedicated category and demographic pages. BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, Interview and Diary Surveys, 2024 release

A couple of definitions help when comparing categories. Housing's 33.4 percent bundles shelter, utilities, operations, and furnishings, so it is broader than just rent or a mortgage. Transportation's 17.0 percent reflects a car-centric country, vehicle purchases, financing, fuel, insurance, and transit combined. Healthcare spending profile shows how medical costs break down separately.

The bottom line: housing dominates the American household budget, followed by transportation and food, with retirement saving close behind. Healthcare, entertainment, and charitable giving fill the middle, and a long tail of smaller categories accounts for the rest, a mix that has stayed broadly stable since 2020 even as individual costs have risen.