Consumer behavior statistics show how people divide limited household budgets, move between physical and digital channels, and choose payment methods. In 2024, the average U.S. consumer unit spent $78,535, while average income before taxes was $104,207. More recent retail data shows e-commerce growing faster than total retail sales, while payment data illustrates how income and age shape the use of cash.
Contents
- Household spending and income
- Spending by category
- How households allocate budgets
- Income-group differences
- Digital retail and e-commerce
- Payments and shopping behavior
- Holiday and seasonal shopping
Household spending and income
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported average annual expenditures of $78,535 per U.S. consumer unit in 2024. Average income before taxes was $104,207. These figures describe average consumer units, a household-based statistical unit used in the Consumer Expenditure Survey; they do not represent the spending or income of every individual household.
The 2024 Consumer Expenditure Survey represented 135.760 million U.S. consumer units. Average annual expenditures rose 1.8% from 2023 to 2024, while average income before taxes rose 2.4% over the same period. The income and spending measures therefore moved upward at different rates during the year.
Food was a $10,169 average annual expense per consumer unit in 2024. That total includes both food purchased for preparation at home and food purchased away from home. Looking at the components helps distinguish routine grocery spending from restaurant and other away-from-home purchases.
Spending by category
The following figures come from the BLS report Consumer Expenditures - 2024. Year-over-year changes refer to 2023–2024 unless otherwise noted.
| Category or component | Average 2024 spending | Change from 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Food at home | $6,224 | +2.8% |
| Food away from home | $3,945 | +0.3% |
| Housing | $26,266 | +3.3% |
| Transportation | $13,318 | +1.1% |
| Healthcare | $6,197 | +0.6% |
| Entertainment | $3,609 | -0.7% |
| Education | $1,569 | +2.2% |
Housing was the largest listed spending category, averaging $26,266 per consumer unit and increasing 3.3% from 2023. Transportation averaged $13,318, up 1.1%, while healthcare averaged $6,197, up 0.6%. These broad categories combine multiple types of household purchases and services.
Within transportation, average vehicle-purchase spending was $5,337, down 3.6% from 2023. Average gasoline spending was $2,411, down 1.6%, while vehicle-insurance spending was $1,993, up 12.3%. The changes were therefore not uniform across transportation: insurance rose while vehicle purchases and gasoline declined.
Food-at-home spending averaged $6,224, up 2.8%, compared with $3,945 for food away from home, up 0.3%. Entertainment spending averaged $3,609 and declined 0.7%. Education spending averaged $1,569 and increased 2.2%. Drug spending, a component of healthcare spending, averaged $658 and increased 11.3%.
These are annual averages for U.S. consumer units during 2024. They are useful for sizing broad markets and comparing categories, but they do not show the composition of an individual household’s basket or explain why a category changed.
How households allocate budgets
The BLS measured housing as 33.4% of total annual expenditures for U.S. consumer units in 2024. Transportation accounted for 17.0%, and food accounted for 12.9%. Together, those three categories represented the largest stated portions of the average annual budget.
Personal insurance and pensions accounted for 12.5% of total annual expenditures. Healthcare accounted for 7.9%, and entertainment accounted for 4.6%. The shares provide a way to compare the relative weight of major needs and discretionary categories without treating every dollar as interchangeable.
| Budget area | Share of total annual expenditures, 2024 |
|---|---|
| Housing | 33.4% |
| Transportation | 17.0% |
| Food | 12.9% |
| Personal insurance and pensions | 12.5% |
| Healthcare | 7.9% |
| Entertainment | 4.6% |
For marketers, these shares indicate the scale of household commitments surrounding a purchase. Housing and transportation occupy larger portions of the average budget than entertainment, while healthcare and insurance represent substantial recurring allocations. The statistics describe allocation, not consumer preference or purchase intent.
Income-group differences
Average annual expenditures varied sharply by income quintile in 2024. The lowest income quintile averaged $35,046 in annual expenditures. The second quintile averaged $50,054, and the third averaged $66,900. The fourth quintile averaged $89,972, while the highest income quintile averaged $150,342.
The BLS reported that average annual expenditures for the highest income quintile were about 4.3 times those of the lowest income quintile. The quintile figures are averages for income-group categories, so they should not be read as a single spending profile for every household in a group.
The spread matters when interpreting market size. A product category can have broad household reach while still having very different affordability, frequency, and basket-size patterns across income groups. A national average may conceal those differences. Comparing the five quintile averages also shows why a single “typical consumer” assumption can be misleading for pricing or audience planning.
The income-group figures measure annual expenditures, not disposable income, savings, debt, or the amount available for one specific purchase. They are best used as a context measure for differences in household spending scale.
Digital retail and e-commerce
The U.S. Census Bureau reported seasonally adjusted retail e-commerce sales of $340.2 billion in the second quarter of 2026. E-commerce sales increased 3.8% from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2026 and increased 12.2% from the second quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026.
Seasonally adjusted total U.S. retail sales were $1,986.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026. Total retail sales increased 2.9% from the first quarter to the second quarter and 6.7% year over year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, e-commerce represented 17.1% of total U.S. retail sales in the second quarter of 2026.
The same Census Bureau release reported unadjusted U.S. retail e-commerce sales of $329.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026. The adjusted and unadjusted figures are different measures and should not be combined as though they were interchangeable. The adjusted series is designed to account for seasonal patterns; the unadjusted series reports the stated quarterly total without that adjustment.
| Retail measure | Q2 2026 result | Reported change |
|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted e-commerce sales | $340.2 billion | +3.8% from Q1; +12.2% year over year |
| Seasonally adjusted total retail sales | $1,986.5 billion | +2.9% from Q1; +6.7% year over year |
| E-commerce share of total retail sales | 17.1% | Seasonally adjusted |
| Unadjusted e-commerce sales | $329.5 billion | Q2 2026 total |
These results identify a channel with faster reported growth than total retail during the measured periods. They do not indicate that every consumer, category, or retailer experienced the same growth rate.
Payments and shopping behavior
The Federal Reserve Bank Services report 2024 Findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice found that U.S. consumers made an average of 46 payments per month in 2023. That was seven more monthly payments than the average in 2022.
Credit cards accounted for 32% of U.S. consumer payments in 2023, debit cards accounted for 30%, and cash accounted for 16%. Online or remote transactions represented 22% of U.S. non-bill payments. The measures cover payment behavior, not total retail sales, and the online or remote figure specifically concerns non-bill payments.
Payment method varied by household income. Consumers in U.S. households earning under $50,000 used cash for 28% of their payments in 2023. Consumers in households earning over $50,000 used cash for 13% of payments. Age was also associated with different cash usage: consumers younger than 55 used cash for 12% of payments, compared with 22% for consumers aged 55 and older.
Mobile apps were used for 50% of person-to-person payments in 2023. This statistic concerns person-to-person payments rather than all consumer payments, so it should not be generalized to every purchase channel. Taken together, the payment data shows a mixed environment in which cards, cash, remote transactions, and mobile applications all occupy measurable roles.
Holiday and seasonal shopping
The National Retail Federation’s Winter Holiday Data and Trends | 2025 Holiday Consumer Spending Insights reported that 91% of consumers planned to celebrate the winter holidays in its 2025 survey. Consumers planned to spend an average of $890 on gifts and other seasonal items during the 2025 winter holidays.
For Black Friday 2025, the NRF estimated 80.3 million in-store shoppers and 85.7 million online shoppers. It estimated 75.9 million online Cyber Monday shoppers. These are NRF estimates for named shopping events, not a count of unique consumers across the entire holiday season; a consumer could be represented in more than one event estimate.
By early December 2025, consumers had completed just over half of their holiday shopping on average, or 51%, according to the NRF. This measurement describes reported progress at that point in the season, not the final share of purchases made online or in stores.
The holiday figures add a seasonal dimension to the broader retail data. Planned spending, event-specific shopper estimates, and shopping completion are different measurements, so they should be used for different questions: expected seasonal budgets, event reach, and timing of purchase activity.