What kind of data do you need?

The CE program produces data that fall into one of the following major expenditure categories: Alcoholic beverages, Apparel and services, Cash contributions, Education, Entertainment, Food, Healthcare, Housing, Miscellaneous, Personal care products and services, Personal insurance and pensions, Reading, Tobacco products and smoking supplies, and Transportation. CE provides these expenditure data, along with demographics and income information, in five formats:

• News releases and reports
  These publications provide analysis of CE data and overviews of major spending trends.
  You do not need statistical software to use these publications. They are available in two formats: News releases and reports.
  
  
• Tables of major expenditures, incomes, and demographic characteristics
  These products provide data by region, income categories, age, race, education, occupation, or other household characteristics. In addition, CE provides tables that cross tabulate variables of interest by two characteristics, for example age and income. You do not need statistical software to use these tables. They are available in two formats: Published tables or a CE LABSTAT database.
  
  
• Tables of detailed expenditure, incomes, and demographic characteristics
  Provide additional expenditure detail and related reliability measures, such as standard error. You need to take into account that some data points may be subject to significant sampling error causing a coefficient of variation of over 25 percent and thus should be used with caution. These tables are available on the research products page or upon request from CE.
  
  
• Public Use Microdata (PUMD) with edited survey responses
  The PUMD contain edited data derived from the survey instruments. The data have been edited to meet strict confidentiality requirements set in place by BLS and the Census Disclosure Review Board. The PUMD include an extensive list of variables that allow in-depth analysis. CE staff edit these data in two main ways:
  • Anonymizes the data to protect the respondents' identities.
  • Imputes components that respondents did not report in sufficient detail or were unwilling to share. These include types of income and income taxes.
  You may need to use PUMD with caution because some data points may have a large coefficient of variation and you should be proficient with a statistical software package, such as SAS or R to use these files.
  
  They are available on the PUMD data page. To get started, you may want to explore the PUMD methodology with the CE PUMD Getting Started Guide and check the availability of data with the Dictionary for Interview and Diary Surveys (XLSX).
  
  
• Data files with unedited survey responses
  This product contains the same information as the Public Use Microdata files (PUMD) except that the confidentiality measures to protect respondents' identities have not been applied. Thus, these data provide slightly more demographic, income, and expenditure data. You have to come to the BLS national office to use this product.
  
  You may need to use these data files with caution because some data points may have a large coefficient of variation and you should be proficient with a statistical software package, such as SAS or R to use these files.
  
  In addition, accessing these files is more involved than accessing the above alternatives. For onsite access at the BLS national office, you need to fulfill the following requirements: Be affiliated with a government agency, academic institution, or nonprofit organization, be a U.S. citizen or legal resident, be able to fund travel to Washington D.C., demonstrate to BLS that your research is in the public's interest and will be publically available, and receive clearance from both BLS and the U.S. Census Bureau to access the unedited data (Title 13). The process to access these files normally takes at least six months, and may take longer. For more information about onsite access, see the BLS restricted data access page.

Methods of Contact

Consumer Expenditure Surveys program staff are available Monday through Friday to respond to inquiries. Please use any of the methods below to contact the CE program. Inquiries should include your name, and phone number, or email address, along with a brief message.

Email

Telephone

Incoming calls are connected to the office's voice mail and answered promptly.