Americans spend about a third of their income on the housing expenses, while the share of entertainment spending remained at 5.4% in both 1950 and 2003. Education expenses grew almost 5 times in 50 years.
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Average US household spending |
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| 1950 | 1960 | 1972 | 1984 | 1993 | 2003 | |
| Total annual spend | $3,925 | $5,431 | $8,601 | $21,975 | $30,692 | $40,817 |
| Housing | 25.8% | 29.3% | 29.4% | 30.4% | 31.4% | 32.9% |
| Transportation | 13.8 | 15.1 | 24.0 | 19.6 | 17.8 | 19.1 |
| Food, alcohol | 32.5 | 26.0 | 22.6 | 16.2 | 15.2 | 14.0 |
| Health care | 5.1 | 6.6 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 5.9 |
| Entertainment, reading | 5.4 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 5.8 | 5.4 |
| Apparel | 11.5 | 10.3 | 8.4 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 4.0 |
| Education | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 |
| Other | 5.5% | 6.8% | 4.6% | 16.3% | 17.1% | 16.8% |
| Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics |
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