NEW YORK — Bundle, the new social money comparison site, today released its first-ever annual consumer spending report, How America Spends, featuring rankings of the Top 25 and Bottom 5 spending cities in the U.S. The report also includes a 50-state ranking of household budget behavior and a data analysis of trends by marital status/kids, income level, and age.
We always hear about ‘Carrie Bradshaw’ types spending big in New York City, but when you remove housing costs from the equation, it’s not just the stereotypical cities where residents spend big on items like shopping, dining out, groceries, or travel.” For top cities, Texas is deep in the habit of spending: Austin residents are the No. 1 spenders in the U.S., averaging $67,076 in overall household expenses over 2009 (excluding mortgage and rent, which are not included in Bundle’s breakdown). Austin’s annual spending is 77 percent higher than the national average of $37,782, according to Bundle’s new data.
“We always hear about ‘Carrie Bradshaw’ types spending big in New York City, but when you remove housing costs from the equation, it’s not just the stereotypical cities where residents spend big on items like shopping, dining out, groceries, or travel,” says Janet Paskin, veteran personal finance writer and Bundle’s managing editor.
“Austin tops New York City in shopping, and Bakersfield spends more than San Francisco on healthcare and pets. Our behavior as spenders in America doesn’t change, but we do spend our money in very different ways.”
The lowest-spending city in the U.S. is Detroit, where residents, hit hard by the recession, spent $16,446 on items including food and drink, shopping, gas, travel and entertainment.
For all 50 states, Connecticut residents lead the nation in spending, while West Virginians rank last, spending 35 percent less than the national average in 2009. Residents of New Canaan, Conn., last year averaged $25,486 on dining out, more than the average West Virginia resident spent, total ($24,517). (See the complete rankings below.)
Bundle’s numbers for How America Spends were compiled from sources including Citi and U.S. government spending data, and third-party research. More details can be found at Bundle.com/bundlereport2010. For more monthly data on each city, go to Bundle’s Everybody’s Money tool to see how your area stacks up.
Here’s a breakdown of the big numbers:
1. The Average American Household Spent $37,782 in 2009
In 2009, U.S. residents averaged $8,668 on shopping, $6,514 on food & drink, $8,026 on health & family, $5,477 on getting around, $2,699 on travel & leisure, and $6,398 on house & home expenses (not including mortgage and rent).
2. New York City and Los Angeles Didn’t Make the Top 25?
That’s correct. New York, NY, with its five boroughs, came in at No. 53 with an average of $37,435 spent in 2009, 0.9 percent lower than the national average. However, if you counted pricey Manhattan as its own city, the Big Apple’s richest borough would land at No. 3 on the list ($59,602), behind Austin and Scottsdale. Ditto for Los Angeles, with its sprawling geography and socioeconomic diversity. That city ended up at No. 42 with $39,422 spent in ’09, 4.3 percent higher than the national average.
3. Household Budgeting: How Marriage and Kids Affect Yearly Spending
How does spending change when you get married or have kids? Bundle’s breakdown by household status shows that married couples with kids spend more on just about everything, but not always as much as youd think: having kids only boosts annual grocery spending by about 8 percent, on average. Also: young parents spend less on eating out and getting around (gas and auto maintenance) than people without kids; after age 36, the trend reverses.
4. Money and Behavior As We Get Older: 65+ Splurge on Travel, 18-25 Dinner Out
What do seniors and college students have in common? Time. But how they spend it and their moneyare different. Even accounting for differences in income, seniors spent up to 61 percent more than 18- to 25-year-olds on travel in 2009; the younger households spent up to 49 percent more on dining out.
5. Complete Rankings of Cities and States
Rankings were based on consumer spending behavior across Bundle categories including Food & Drink, Shopping, Travel & Leisure, Getting Around, Health & Family, and House & Home-related expenses not including mortgage or rent.
Top 25 Highest-Spending Cities (excludes mortgage/rent, rankings measured household averages of top 100 cities by population, according to U.S. Census data)
1. Austin ($67,076)
2. Scottsdale, Ariz. ($64,687)
3. San Jose ($59,022)
4. Arlington, Va. ($52,085)
5. Plano, Texas ($56,738)
6. Raleigh, N.C. ($53,398)
7. Nashville ($52,964)
8. Tucson ($51,857)
9. Irvine, Calif. ($51,286)
10. Durham, N.C. ($51,114)
11. Washington, D.C. ($49,431)
12. Dallas ($47,920)
13. Seattle ($47,336)
14. Reno ($47,273)
15. Corpus Christi, Texas ($46,311)
16. San Antonio ($46,122)
17. Honolulu ($46,087)
18. Oklahoma City ($45,449)
19. San Francisco ($45,291)
20. Madison, Wis. ($45,275)
21. Henderson, Nev. ($45,220)
22. Wichita, Kan. ($44,810)
23. St. Paul, Minn. ($44,579)
24. Chandler, Ariz. ($44,470)
25. Lubbock, Texas ($44,122)
***
42. Los Angeles ($39,422)
53. New York City ($37,435)
Bottom 5 Lowest-Spending Cities (excludes mortgage/rent, sorted lowest to highest by household average)
1. Detroit ($16,446)
2. Hialeah, Fla. ($19,397)
3. Chula Vista, Calif. ($21,424)
4. Toledo ($26,962)
5. Boise ($28,006)
50 State Breakdown of Residents’ Household Spending (including District of Columbia and US average)
1. Connecticut ($57,331)
2. District of Columbia ($49,430)
3. Hawaii ($46,518)
4. California ($42,962)
5. Texas ($42,623)
6. Arizona ($41,752)
7. Illinois ($41,627)
8. New York ($40,783)
9. Maryland ($40,538)
10. Washington ($40,480)
11. Virginia ($40,282)
12. Oklahoma ($40,103)
13. New Hampshire ($40,081)
14. Massachusetts ($39,792)
15. Minnesota ($39,682)
16. Missouri ($39,462)
17. Kansas ($39,418)
18. Nevada ($39,262)
19. Colorado ($38,916)
20. Rhode Island ($38,867)
21. New Jersey ($38,634)
22. New Mexico ($38,509)
23. Delaware ($38,020)
24. Wisconsin ($37,815)
25. U.S. Average ($37,782)
26. Michigan ($37,330)
27. Florida ($36,455)
28. Vermont ($36,435)
29. Utah ($35,558)
30. Iowa ($35,445)
31. Indiana ($35,327)
32. Arkansas ($34,995)
33. North Carolina ($34,869)
34. Nebraska ($34,639)
35. Alaska ($34,474)
36. Tennessee ($34,334)
37. Louisiana ($34,251)
38. Ohio ($33,921)
39. South Dakota ($33,557)
40. Oregon ($33,377)
41. Maine ($32,839)
42. Pennsylvania ($32,452)
43. Wyoming ($32,272)
44. North Dakota ($31,179)
45. South Carolina ($31,080)
46. Georgia ($29,752)
47. Alabama ($29,337)
48. Kentucky ($28,870)
49. Idaho ($28,537)
50. Mississippi ($27,740)
51. Montana ($27,032)
52. West Virginia ($24,517)
Souce: Bundle
