Share of U.S. Consumer Spending: Health Care

## What this measures

Spending on doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and other health services, as a share of all U.S. consumer spending.

## Why it matters

Health care is the category that has taken the most share over sixty years.

## How to read it

It was 17.2% in the second quarter of 2026, against 4.7% in 1959 and 12.9% in early 1990.

## What it does not say

It covers all spending on behalf of households, including what employers and government pay for them (most health care is paid by insurers and Medicare), and spending by nonprofits that serve households. So it differs from what families pay out of pocket; for that, read the household.cex.share series. Shares are of nominal dollars, so a category whose prices rise faster gains share.

## Source

Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts Table 2.3.5, quarterly, via the FRED API, pulled nightly. Palanor divides health care services (DHLCRC1Q027SBEA) by total personal consumption expenditures (PCEC). BEA data are in the public domain.