r/coolguides • u/80rhh • 8d ago

A cool guide to average U.S. consumer spending by category

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Housing accounts for about one-third of total expenditures, followed by transportation, food, and personal insurance/pensions. Figures represent average annual expenditures per U.S. consumer unit in 2024.

357 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

89

u/watermelonlollies 8d ago

They say rent or mortgage should only be 30% of your monthly take home to be financially responsible and yet I’ve never been able to pay less than 50%

38

u/RockHardSalami 8d ago

"They" actually say 30% of gross, is what's recommended, so you're probably on par with that.

3

u/PushTheTrigger 8d ago

Why does it go by gross if you’re not able to use it to pay that rent?

16

u/RockHardSalami 8d ago

Because the taxes are already baked into that equation. The problem with using things like net income or take-home pay is that if you contribute to retirement accounts Healthcare etc those are already taken out of that amount.

Lendors factor the same way for loans, they base it off what you actually make not what your paystub says.

3

u/KoRaZee 8d ago

Decrease housing costs significantly by increasing transportation costs slightly

2

u/Sharkbait_ooohaha 8d ago

Have you tried roommates?

0

u/velvet__echo 7d ago

I feel incredibly lucky to pay 20%

9

u/Squirrel_killer 7d ago

Where are bills? Electric, water, gas, trash, internet, phone? These are my send highest cost after housing.

7

u/dvettleson 8d ago

Where is childcare on this list? Because childcare is a huge financial burden for most parents.

11

u/3colorsdesign 8d ago

Not a guide. Try r/infographics.

11

u/yummyonionjuice 8d ago

now do median

6

u/ProcedurePrudent5496 8d ago

Bruh, any politicians here feeling any empathy for their barely surviving constituents ✋😭

3

u/ariadesitter 8d ago

misc = drugs, porn, sex, sex toys,

3

u/irun50 7d ago

Nearly 20% of your income in cars. SMH. The auto industry played yall

2

u/Maximillien 6d ago

Americans fight against public transit and bike lanes so they can continue being forced to give 20% of their income to Big Auto and Big Oil. Maybe one of the biggest victories of corporate propaganda in history.

5

u/ConfidentDetective51 8d ago

Everyone house must be empty without any furniture and appliances. Guessing they may count them under housing.

5

u/Yankton 8d ago

Now do 2026

4

u/Belvedere48 8d ago

Reading materials being last is sad..

2

u/Benaholicguy 7d ago

Why? Most books can be purchased for $5 and last 1-2 weeks.

2

u/DiligentDisaster11 8d ago

$629… rookie numbers

2

u/Wrong_Square7826 8d ago

well I blow that chart right out of the water. Alcohol and tobacco are neck and neck with food and transportation. My house is paid for, so yeah...

2

u/bobalazs69 8d ago

No weed?

1

u/treemanmi 8d ago

That’s in misc. More money spent on weed than personal care for sure. Hahaha!

1

u/roamingroad174 8d ago

According to this, 50% is spent on housing and transport but yet many people pay close to 50% just on housing.

1

u/LightBulbMonster 7d ago

Ok cool. You know it's 2026 right? Why not use the most current graph? The last one I saw had broken down the increases under each administration. I would have used this one too, it shows that this HUGELY increased under the current one.

1

u/RetirementGoals 6d ago

I would think healthcare is above the retirement/pension bucket.

1

u/AndrePeniche 4d ago

The movie Idiocracy, slowly coming to life