Consumer Expenditures for the Boston Metropolitan Area: 2011-2012

 

Housing in the Boston area averaged $20,637 annually and was the largest expenditure category, accounting for 31.8 percent of a Boston area household’s total budget. (See tables 1 and 2.) This share was significantly below the 33.3-percent national average. Overall, 8 of the 18 published metropolitan areas had expenditure shares for housing significantly above the U.S. average while 3 had significantly lower-than-average shares. (See chart 2.) Housing expenditures among the 18 areas ranged from 39.7 percent in New York to 31.7 percent in Detroit. (See table 3.)

The majority of housing expenditures in the Boston area went toward shelter, 61.0 percent, which includes mortgage interest, property taxes, repairs, and rent, among other items; nationwide, 58.5 percent of the average housing budget was allocated for shelter. (See table A.) Utilities, fuels, and public services expenses accounted for 19.6 percent of the housing budget locally; nationally, they made up 21.9 percent. The rate of home ownership in Boston was 63 percent, compared to the U.S. average of 65 percent.

At 14.8 percent of the total budget, transportation was the second-largest expenditure category in the Boston area and was significantly below the national average of 17.1 percent. Among the 18 published metropolitan areas nationwide, 8 (including Boston) had below-average transportation shares; only one, Houston, had a share that was significantly above the average. (See table 3 and chart 3.)

Of the $9,610 in annual expenditures for transportation in Boston, 90.7 percent was spent buying and maintaining private vehicles; this compared to the national average of 93.9 percent. The remaining 9.3 percent of a Boston household’s transportation budget was spent on public transit, which includes fares for taxis, buses, trains, and planes; this allocation compared with the 6.1-percent average for the nation. (See table B.) The average number of vehicles per household in Boston (1.7) was below the national average of 1.9.

The portion of a Boston consumer unit’s budget spent on food, 13.2 percent, was not significantly different than the 12.9-percent U.S. average. Among the 18 metropolitan areas, 3 had food expenditure shares that were significantly below the nationwide average; only Los Angeles reported a share for food above that for the nation. (See table 3.)

Households in Boston spent $5,408, or 63.2 percent, of their food dollars on food prepared at home and the remaining 36.8 percent ($3,155) on food prepared away from home, such as restaurant meals, carry-out, board at school, and catered affairs. In comparison, the typical U.S. household spent 59.4 percent of its food budget on food prepared at home and 40.6 percent on food prepared away from home.

As noted, Boston is 1 of 18 metropolitan areas nationwide for which Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) data are available.

Metropolitan area CE data and that for the four geographic regions of the United States are available on our Web site at https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables.htm. Metropolitan area CE news releases are available at https://www.bls.gov/regions/subjects/consumer-spending.htm

Additional Information

Data contained in this report are from the CE, which is collected on an ongoing basis by the U.S. Census Bureau for BLS. The CE data were averaged over a two-year period, 2011 and 2012 and are available for the nation, the 4 geographic regions of the country, and 18 metropolitan areas. The metropolitan area discussed in this release is Boston-Brockton-Nashua, Mass.-N.H.-Maine-Conn. which is comprised of select cities and towns in Windham, Conn.; Bristol, Essex, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester, Mass.; York, ME; Hillsborough, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Strafford, N.H. counties.

The survey consists of two components, a diary or recordkeeping survey, and an interview survey. The integrated data from the BLS Diary and Interview Surveys provide a complete accounting of consumer expenditures and income, which neither survey component alone is designed to do. Due to changes in the survey sample frame, metropolitan area data in this release are not directly comparable to those prior to 1996.

A consumer unit is defined as members of a household related by blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangement; a single person living alone or sharing a household with others but who is financially independent; or two or more persons living together who share responsibility for at least 2 out of 3 major types of expenses – food, housing, and other expenses. The terms household or consumer unit are used interchangeably for convenience.

CE metropolitan area estimates are not comparative cost of living surveys, as neither the quantity nor the quality of goods and services has been held constant among areas. Differences may result from variations in demographic characteristics such as consumer unit size, age, preferences, income levels, etc. However, expenditure shares, or the percentage of a consumer unit’s budget spent on a particular category, can be used to compare spending patterns across areas. Sample sizes for the metropolitan areas are much smaller than for the nation, so the U.S. estimates and year-to-year changes are more reliable than those for the metropolitan areas. Users should also keep in mind that prices for many goods and services have changed since the survey was conducted.

Expenditure shares for housing and transportation that are above or below that for the nation after testing for significance at the 95-percent confidence interval are also identified in charts 2 and 3 for the 18 metropolitan areas surveyed.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with our ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

For additional technical documentation and related information, see www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cex/home.htm

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