New York-New Jersey Information Office

For Release: Tuesday, November 23, 2010                                           NYLS - 7461
Technical information: Martin Kohli (646) 264-3620 • BLSInfoNewYork@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/ro2
Media contact:         Michael L. Dolfman (212) 337-2500

                                      
           Consumer Expenditures for the New York-Northern
                      New Jersey Area: 2008-09
 

Consumer units1 in the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island,
N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa. metropolitan area spent an average of $60,273
per year in 2008-09, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. Regional Commissioner Michael L. Dolfman noted that this
figure was over 20 percent higher than the $49,778 average
expenditure level for a typical household in the United States.



New York area households not only spent more than the U.S. average,
but they tended to allocate their dollars differently among most
expenditure categories. Households in the New York area spent a
significantly larger portion of their dollars on housing (39.2 percent
compared to 34.2 percent nationwide), whereas the shares spent on many
other categories were significantly smaller than the nationwide
average. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Housing in the New York-Northern New Jersey metropolitan area averaged
$23,624 annually and was the largest expenditure category, accounting
for 39.2 percent of a New York area household's total budget. (See
tables 1 and 2.) This share was significantly larger than the 34.2-
percent national average. Overall, 10 of the 18 published metropolitan
areas had expenditure shares for housing measurably above the U.S.
average; only Houston had a lower-than-average share. Housing
expenditures ranged from 41.7 percent in San Diego to 31.9 percent in
Houston among the 18 areas. (See table 3.)

Table A. Percent distribution of housing expenditures, United States and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island,

N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa., 2008-09

Category	United States	New York-Northern New Jersey
Total housing	100.0	100.0
Shelter	59.6	65.5
Utilities, fuels, and public services	21.5	18.2
Household operations	5.9	6.6
Housekeeping supplies	3.9	2.7
Household furnishings and equipment	9.2	7.0
Note: Columns may not add to 100 due to rounding.

The majority of housing expenditures in New York-Northern New Jersey
went toward shelter, 65.5 percent, which includes mortgage interest,
property taxes, repairs, and rent, among other items; nationwide, 59.6
percent of the housing budget was allocated for shelter. (See table
A.) Utilities, fuels, and public services expenses accounted for 18.2
percent of the housing budget locally; nationally, they made up 21.5
percent. The rate of homeownership in the New York area, at 58
percent, was below the U.S. average of 66 percent.

At 14.1 percent of the total budget, transportation was the second-
largest expenditure category in the New York area; this was
significantly lower than the national average of 16.3 percent. Among
the 18 metropolitan areas nationwide, eight others had significantly
below-average transportation-shares. Detroit was the only metropolitan
area to record above-average transportation shares, at 19.2 percent.
(See chart 3.)
 

	
Table B. Percent distribution of transportation expenditures, United States and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island,
N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa., 2008-09
	

		

			
Category
			
United States
			
New York
		
	
	

		

			
Transportation
			
100
			
100
		
		

			
Vehicle Purchases (net outlays)
			
33.3
			
27.3
		
		

			
Gasoline and motor oil
			
28.9
			
22.9
		
		

			
Other vehicle expenses
			
31.7
			
36.9
		
		

			
Public transportation
			
6.1
			
12.9
		
	
	

		

			

				

					Note:  Columns may not add to 100 due to rounding.
			
		
	


     
Of the $8,495 in annual expenditures for transportation in New York-
Northern New Jersey, 87.1 percent was spent buying and maintaining
private vehicles; this compared to the national average of 93.9
percent. The remaining 12.9 percent of a New York area household's
transportation budget was spent on public transit, which includes
fares for taxis, buses, trains, and planes; this allocation was above
the 6.1-percent average for the nation. (See table B.) In addition to
New York-Northern New Jersey, three other metropolitan areas also had
shares above 10 percent-San Francisco, Washington, and Seattle. The
average number of vehicles per household in New York-Northern New
Jersey (1.4) was also lower than the national average (2.0).

The portion of a New York area consumer unit's budget spent on food,
12.3 percent, was significantly less than the 12.9-percent U.S.
average. However, among the 18 metropolitan areas, 10, or more than
half, had food expenditure shares that were not measurably different
from the nationwide average. Boston (13.8 percent) was the only area
with an expenditure share for food significantly above that for the
nation.

Households in New York-Northern New Jersey spent $4,066, or 54.8
percent, of their food dollars on food at home and the remaining 45.2
percent on food away from home, such as restaurant meals, carry-out,
board at school, and catered affairs. In comparison, the typical U.S.
household spent 58.5 percent of its food budget on food at home and
41.5 percent on food away from home.

As noted, New York-Northern New Jersey is 1 of 18 metropolitan areas
nationwide for which Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) data are
available. We encourage users interested in learning more about the CE
to contact the New York-Northern New Jersey Information Office at
(646) 264-3600. CE data for metropolitan areas, the four geographic
regions, and the United States are available at http://www.bls.gov/ro2/.

Additional Information

Data contained in this report are from the Consumer Expenditure
Survey, which is collected on an ongoing basis by the U.S. Census
Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The CE data were
averaged over a two-year period, 2008 and 2009 and are available for
the nation, the 4 geographic regions of the country, and 18
metropolitan areas. The metropolitan area discussed in this release is
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa., which
comprises Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam,
Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New
York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex,
Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren
Counties in New Jersey; Fairfield County and parts of Litchfield,
Middlesex, and New Haven Counties in Connecticut; and Pike County in
Pennsylvania.

The survey consists of two components, a diary or recordkeeping
survey, and an interview survey. The integrated data from the BLS
Diary and Interview Surveys provide a complete accounting of consumer
expenditures and income, which neither survey component alone is
designed to do. Due to changes in the survey sample frame,
metropolitan area data in this release are not directly comparable to
those prior to 1996.

A consumer unit is defined as members of a household related by blood,
marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangement; a single person living
alone or sharing a household with others but who is financially
independent; or two or more persons living together who share
responsibility for at least 2 out of 3 major types of expenses - food,
housing, and other expenses. The terms household or consumer unit are
used interchangeably for convenience.

The expenditure data in this release should be interpreted with care.
The expenditures are averages for consumer units with the specified
characteristics, regardless of whether a specific unit incurred an
expense for that item during the recording period. The average
expenditure may be considerably lower than the expenditure by those
consumer units that purchased the item. This study is not intended as
a comparative cost of living survey, as neither the quantity nor the
quality of goods and services has been held constant among areas.
Differences may result from variations in demographic characteristics
such as consumer unit size, age, preferences, income levels, etc.
However, expenditure shares, or the percentage of a consumer unit's
budget spent on a particular category, can be used to compare spending
patterns across areas. Users should also keep in mind that prices for
many goods and services have risen since the survey was conducted.

The CE significance tests in this release compare expenditure shares
for selected expenditure categories in the United States to
expenditure shares in selected metropolitan areas. (See table 3.)
Expenditure shares for housing and transportation that are above or
below that for the nation after testing for significance at the 95-
percent confidence interval are also identified in charts 1 and 2 for
the 18 metropolitan areas surveyed. It should be remembered that
sample sizes for the metropolitan areas are much smaller than for the
nation, so the U.S. estimates and year-to-year changes are more
reliable than those for the metropolitan areas.

NOTE:  A value that is statistically different from another does not
necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical
significance. Statistical significance is concerned with our ability
to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is
entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not
significantly different statistically, while a small difference is,
since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the
relative error of the data being tested.
_______________________________
1A consumer unit is defined as members of a household related by
blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangement; a single person
living alone or sharing a household with others but who is financially
independent; or two or more persons living together who share
responsibility for at least 2 out of 3 major types of expenses - food,
housing, and other expenses. The terms household or consumer unit are
used interchangeably for convenience.

Table 1. Percent distribution of average annual expenditures, United States and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island,

N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa., Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2008-09

Category	United States	New York-Northern New Jersey
Average annual expenditures	$49,778	$60,273
Percent distribution:	100.0	100.0
Food	12.9	*12.3
Alcoholic beverages	.9	.8
Housing	34.2	*39.2
Apparel and services	3.5	3.8
Transportation	16.3	*14.1
Health care	6.1	*5.0
Entertainment	5.5	*4.7
Personal care products and services	1.2	*1.1
Reading	.2	*.2
Education	2.1	*3.4
Tobacco products and smoking supplies	.7	*.4
Miscellaneous	1.7	1.5
Cash contributions	3.5	*2.5
Personal insurance and pensions	11.1	10.9
Note: An asterisk (*) represents a statistically significant difference from the U.S. average at the 95-percent confidence level. Columns may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Table 2. Consumer unit characteristics and average annual expenditures, United States and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa., Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2008-09

Category	United States	New York-Northern New Jersey
Consumer unit characteristics:
Income before taxes	$62,857	$81,509
Age of reference person	49.4	50.8
Average number in consumer unit:
Persons	2.5	2.5
Children under 18	.6	.6
Persons 65 and over	.3	.3
Earners	1.3	1.3
Vehicles	2.0	1.4
Percent homeowners	66	58
Average annual expenditures:
Average annual expenditures	$49,778	$60,273
Food	6,407	7,420
Food at home	3,749	4,066
Cereals and bakery products	507	558
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	844	987
Dairy products	418	449
Fruits and vegetables	657	799
Other food at home	1,324	1,273
Food away from home	2,658	3,354
Alcoholic beverages	439	498
Housing	17,002	23,624
Shelter	10,129	15,482
Owned dwellings	6,651	9,449
Rented dwellings	2,792	4,859
Other lodging	685	1,173
Utilities, fuels, and public services	3,647	4,309
Household operations	1,004	1,548
Housekeeping supplies	657	643
Household furnishings and equipment	1,565	1,642
Apparel and services	1,763	2,292
Transportation	8,133	8,495
Vehicle purchases (net outlay)	2,706	2,321
Gasoline and motor oil	2,351	1,943
Other vehicle expenses	2,580	3,137
Public transportation	496	1,093
Healthcare	3,051	3,027
Entertainment	2,764	2,828
Personal care products and services	606	686
Reading	113	110
Education	1,057	2,043
Tobacco products and smoking supplies	348	223
Miscellaneous	828	920
Cash contributions	1,730	1,515
Personal insurance and pensions	5,538	6,591
Life and other personal insurance	313	415
Pensions and Social Security	5,225	6,176

Table 3. Percent share of average annual expenditures for housing, transportation, and food, United States and 18 metropolitan areas, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2008-09

Area	Housing	Transportation	Food
United States	34.2	16.3	12.9
Atlanta	*37.2	*14.7	*11.7
Baltimore	*39.6	*12.6	*11.3
Boston	35.1	*14.5	*13.8
Chicago	*36.2	15.5	12.4
Cleveland	33.8	15.3	12.5
Dallas	33.8	16.1	12.5
Detroit	33.1	*19.2	13.0
Houston	*31.9	18.3	*11.9
Los Angeles	*38.6	15.5	13.3
Miami	*39.9	17.7	12.2
Minneapolis	34.0	15.7	12.2
New York	*39.2	*14.1	*12.3
Philadelphia	*37.2	*14.4	*11.4
Phoenix	34.9	17.4	11.9
San Diego	*41.7	*13.3	12.2
San Francisco	*38.5	*14.1	*11.7
Seattle	33.4	*14.2	12.2
Washington	*37.1	*13.8	*11.3
Note: An asterisk (*) represents a statistically significant difference from the U.S. average at the 95-percent confidence level. Columns may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Last Modified Date: November 24, 2010