Personal Consumption Expenditures by State, 2015
News Release from US Bureau of Economic Advisors, October 4, 2016
Growth in state personal consumption expenditures (PCE) – the measure of goods and services purchased by or on behalf of households – decelerated to 3.6 percent on average in 2015 from 4.4 percent in 2014 (Table 1), according to statistics released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In 2015, PCE growth ranged from 1.5 percent in Wyoming to 5.0 percent in Florida.
Growth in PCE accelerated in only three states in 2015 – Alaska, Kentucky, and Missouri – and was largely concentrated in the Far West and Rocky Mountain regions. The states with the fastest growth in PCE were Florida (5.0%), Oregon (4.9%), and Colorado (4.9%). These states were also among the fastest growing states in 2014. After Wyoming, the states with the slowest PCE growth were Mississippi (1.9%), North Dakota (1.9%), and Maine (2.0%).
Category growth in PCE by state. In 2015, the fastest growing categories of expenditures across all states were food services and accommodations, health care, and other nondurable goods (Table 2). These categories along with housing and utilities were also the largest contributors to growth in total PCE by state. Each of these categories contributed 0.5 percentage point or more to growth in total PCE by state, and collectively accounted for more than three quarters of the growth (Table 3). Food and beverages purchased for off-premises consumption, while a major component of total PCE by state, was the slowest growing category and contributed little to growth in total PCE by state. Gasoline and other energy goods was the only category that subtracted from growth in total PCE by state.
Expenditures on housing and utilities grew 4.2 percent in 2015 and contributed on average 0.8 percentage point to growth in total PCE by state. This growth was fastest in North Dakota (8.6%), Florida (5.9%), and Colorado (5.9%) and was slowest in Maine (1.3%), Illinois (2.0%), and Wisconsin (2.5%). This category was the second largest contributor to growth in total PCE by state and contributed 1.0 percentage point or more to growth in total PCE in nine states.
Expenditures on health care grew 6.0 percent in 2015 and contributed on average 1.0 percentage point to growth in total PCE by state. This growth was fastest in Oregon (9.2%), Colorado (8.9%), and North Dakota (8.2%) and was slowest in Connecticut (1.7%), New York (3.6%), and Mississippi (3.7%). This category contributed 1.0 percentage point or more to growth in total PCE in more than half the states and was the leading contributor to growth in most states.
Expenditures on food and beverages for off-premises consumption grew 1.0 percent in 2015 and contributed on average 0.1 percentage point to growth in total PCE by state. This growth was fastest in North Dakota (2.2%), Vermont (1.8%), and Montana (1.6%) and was slowest in Missouri (0.2%), Mississippi (0.3%), and Kentucky (0.3%). The contributions to growth in total PCE for this category were 0.1 percentage point or less in all states except Vermont (0.2 percentage point).
Expenditures on gasoline and other energy goods declined 23.9 percent in 2015 and subtracted on average 0.8 percentage point from growth in total PCE by state. Expenditures declined in all states, ranging from 27.4 percent in Hawaii to 17.5 percent in New Mexico. After Hawaii, the states with the largest declines were Virginia (26.4%), Vermont (26.0%), and Louisiana (26.0%).
Per capita PCE by state in 2015. Per capita PCE by state measures average PCE spending per person in a state. Across all states and the District of Columbia, per capita total PCE was $38,196 (Table 4). Per capita PCE by state ranged from a high of $49,717 in Massachusetts to a low of $29,330 in Mississippi.
After Massachusetts, the states with the highest per capita PCE were Alaska ($48,666), North Dakota ($47,864), and New Hampshire ($47,441). After Mississippi, the states with the lowest per capita PCE were Arkansas ($29,791), Alabama ($30,459), and Kentucky ($31,925).
U.S. per capita expenditures on housing and utilities were $6,947 and ranged from a high of $9,482 in New Jersey to a low of $4,573 in West Virginia. Other states with high per capita spending included Maryland ($9,390), Connecticut ($9,348), and Massachusetts ($8,948). Other states with low per capita spending included Arkansas ($4,606), Mississippi ($4,735), and Alabama ($5,032).
U.S. per capita expenditures on health care were $6,436 and ranged from a high of $9,645 in Alaska to a low of $4,796 in Utah. Other states with high per capita spending included Massachusetts ($9,187), Delaware ($8,070), and New Hampshire ($7,866). Other states with low per capita spending included Nevada ($4,885), Georgia ($5,187), and Arizona ($5,216).
U.S. per capita expenditures on food and beverages purchased for off-premises consumption were $2,802 and ranged from a high of $4,196 in Vermont to a low of $2,282 in Oklahoma. Other states with high per capita spending included Alaska ($3,965), Maine ($3,814), and New Hampshire ($3,635). Other states with low per capita spending included Arkansas ($2,360), Utah ($2,468), and Alabama ($2,493).
U.S. per capita expenditures on gasoline and other energy goods were $945 and ranged from a high of $2,994 in North Dakota to a low of $509 in Hawaii. Other states with high per capita spending included Wyoming ($2,291), South Dakota ($1,672), and Maine ($1,654). Other states with low per capita spending included New York ($655), Florida ($723), and California ($739).
Notice of Update to Accounts and Data Availability
The statistics released today reflect the results of the annual revision of PCE by state. With the release of the 2015 statistics, BEA is making available revised statistics for 2008-2014. The revisions incorporate the results of the 2015 annual revision of national income and product accounts and incorporation of newly available and revised source data; most notably the incorporation of the 2012 Economic Census data.
PCE by state statistics for 16 expenditure categories, and additional maps for the expenditure categories described in this press release, may be found on BEA's Regional Accounts webpage (http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm).
Additional information on the statistics and the methodology can be found on the upcoming article in the November 2016 issue of the Survey of Current Business, the monthly online journal of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (http://www.bea.gov/scb/index.htm).
Next release: October 4, 2017 at 8:30 A.M. EDT – Personal Consumption Expenditures by State, 2016.
Additional Information
Resources
Definitions
PCE by state is the state counterpart of the Nation's personal consumption expenditures (PCE). PCE by state measures the goods and services purchased by or on behalf of households and the net expenditures of nonprofit institutions serving households (NPISHs) by state of residence for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. PCE by state reflects spending on activities that are attributable to the residents of a state, even when those activities take place outside of the state.
Per capita PCE by state measures average PCE spending per person in a state and it is calculated as PCE in a state divided by the population of the state.
Current-dollar PCE by state statistics are unadjusted for price changes and reflect variation in both prices and quantities.
Statistical Conventions
PCE by state statistics are unadjusted for price changes and reflect variation in both prices and quantities.
BEA Regions
BEA groups all 50 states and the District of Columbia into eight distinct regions for purposes of data collecting and analyses. New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont); Mideast (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania); Great Lakes(Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin); Plains (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota); Southeast (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia); Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas); Rocky Mountain (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming); and Far West (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington).
Relationship of PCE by state to national PCE. The U.S. PCE by state differs slightly from the PCE in the national accounts because PCE by state excludes the net expenditures abroad by U.S. residents, which consist of government and private employees' expenditures abroad less personal remittances in kind to nonresidents. PCE by state, however, does include the travel expenditures abroad by U.S. residents.
List of News Release Tables
Table 1. Total Personal Consumption Expenditures by State, 2013–2015
Table 2. Percent Change from Preceding Period of Personal Consumption Expenditures by Category and State, 2014–2015
Table 3. Category Contributions to Percent Change in Total Personal Consumption Expenditures by State, 2015
Table 4. Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures by State for Select Categories, 2015