1 Our affordability study is based upon the Consumer Expenditure Study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This study was last updated on December 19, 2025. In particular, we evaluated data from Table 1101: Quintiles of income before taxes: Annual expenditure means, shares, standard errors, and relative standard errors, Consumer Expenditure Surveys for years 2015 – 2025. We also evaluated the Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to assess price changes and the Surveys of Consumers from the University of Michigan for a review of current sentiment. Unless otherwise noted, all analysis in this study comes from one of these three sources.
2 To evaluate wallet share, we looked at the shares of total expenditures by income quintile as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We make a few caveats to our analysis. First, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will occasionally update its categories, making comparisons across time periods for select line items difficult. However, we do not think this is a major concern for the categories we evaluated. Second, a range of factors can influence wallet share over time. For example, income levels can move higher, but spending remains the same, reducing the wallet share but not the aggregate dollars spent. Here’s another example: Higher costs in one area of consumer spending could also crowd out spending in a separate area, shrinking wallet share as a result. We noted this possibility in our study of food wallet share, but we did not conduct an exhaustive statistical study for this consideration or that of other changing variables.
3 Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data as of March 11, 2026.
4 whitehouse.gov, January 20, 2026, Reuters, January 9, 2026, Bipartisan Policy Center, March 10, 2026.
5 Bloomberg, March 12, 2026.
6 Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 10, 2026.
7 The wealth effect is the economic theory that says consumers spend more when their financial assets and home prices rise in value.
8 Bloomberg, January 9, 2026.
9 As seen in the Consumer Expenditures Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data as of December 19, 2026.
10 As seen in the Consumer Expenditures Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data as of December 19, 2025.
11 U.S. Energy Information Administration.
12 University of Michigan, February 2026.
13 Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey. Data as of December 19, 2026.
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