Share of U.S. Consumer Spending: Housing and Utilities

## What this measures

Rent, the rental value of owner-occupied homes, and utilities, as a share of all U.S. consumer spending.

## Why it matters

Housing is the largest single claim on household budgets.

## How to read it

It was 18.0% in the second quarter of 2026, against 16.6% in early 1959. Its high was 20.3% in the second quarter of 2020, when spending on almost everything else collapsed.

## 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 housing and utilities services (DHUTRC1Q027SBEA) by total personal consumption expenditures (PCEC). BEA data are in the public domain.