U.S. consumer average annual expenditures rose 5.9% from 2022 to 2023, according to a new data release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During this same period, average income before taxes rose 8.3%.
Housing experienced one of the smallest rises in expenditures at 4.7%, a fall from the 7.4% increase seen the year prior. Rent increases were milder in 2023 compared to 2022, helping to keep overall housing costs down.
Still, housing costs account for a major portion of consumers' pocketbooks, representing 32.9% of their total spending. That share did not change much, even as income rose.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, education saw the largest percent increase — 24%— of all the 14 major components of household spending, according to the report. This follows the previous year’s increase of 9.7% in education.
“This increase was driven by a 39.2% increase in elementary and high school tuition, after being unchanged from 2021 to 2022,” a spokesperson from the Bureau of Labor Statistics told CoStar. “The categories of test preparation and tutoring services, school supplies, etc. also contributed to this increase.”
The next largest spikes in expenditures in 2023 were seen in the miscellaneous and personal care products and services categories.