Transportation Economic Trends
Household Spending on Transportation:
Total National Household Spending
Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), is the broadest measure of consumer spending in the U.S. economy. It measures total national household spending on goods and services, as discussed on this page. Data and discussion on average household spending from the Consumer Expenditure Survey also available.
2021 Year-in-Review
- Transportation accounted for $1.6 trillion (9.8 percent) of total national household spending (including spending on behalf of households, such as employee transit subsidies) in 2021, making transportation the fourth largest household expenditure category after healthcare, housing, and food (when excluding other expenditures).
- After a 14.0 percent decline from 2019 to 2020, total national household spending on transportation increased by 28.9 percent from 2020 to 2021 (not adjusted for inflation).
- Of the components making up household spending on transportation, motor vehicle fuels, lubricants, and fluids increased the most, at 50.9 percent, from 2020 to 2021 (not adjusted for inflation), followed by motor vehicles and parts (29.0 percent), transportation services (20.7 percent), and motor vehicle insurance (1.9 percent). Except for motor vehicle insurance, spending grew more, year-over-year, in 2021 than in any previous year (with data beginning in 2003).
- Before increasing in 2021, motor vehicle fuels, lubricants, fluids, declined 27.2 percent, transportation services declined 25.7 percent, and motor vehicle insurance declined 2.4 percent from 2019 to 2020. Spending on motor vehicles and parts contrastingly increased from 2019 to 2020 by 3.3 percent before increasing more in 2021.
Total National Household Spending on Transportation | Components of Total National Household Spending on Transportation
Total National Household Spending on Transportation: Personal Consumption Expenditures
Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) measures total household
spending on durable goods, such as vehicles; nondurable goods, such as fuel;
and services, such as for-hire transportation. It includes spending by governments, employers, and other organizations on
behalf of households—for example, employee transit subsidies.
PCE measures total national spending only; it does not
measure differences in household spending by income or social group. The Consumer Expenditure Survey details spending by select household characteristics.
Transportation accounts for a small portion of PCE and as a percent of PCE, fluctuates little over time.
PCE are one part of final demand for goods and services. Transportation PCE account for about three-fourths of total final demand attributed to transportation.
Total National Household Spending on Transportation | Components of Total National Household Spending on Transportation
Components of Total National Household Spending on Transportation: Personal Consumption Expenditures
Total national household spending on transportation is the sum of: personal (household) consumption expenditures on motor vehicles and parts; motor vehicle fuels, lubricants, and fluids; motor vehicle and other transportation insurance; and transportation services (e.g., passenger airfare).
Personal consumption of motor vehicles and parts accounts for the largest component of household spending for transportation.
Recommended citation
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Economic Trends, available at www.bts.gov/product/transportation-economic-trends.
Related Measures
