Average American Consumer Spends Three Times as Much on Transportation as Healthcare

A recent report by the Labor Department profiles the average consumer. The second of three parts

July 15, 2009 RSS Feed Print
  • $8,758: Annual expenditures on transportation, or 17.6% of annual paycheck
  • $2, 853: Annual expenditures on healthcare, or 5.7% of annual paycheck
  • $945: Annual amount spent on education, or 1.9% of paycheck
  • $5,027: Annual amount spent on pensions and Social Security, or 10.1% of paycheck
  • $3,477: Annual amount spent on public utilities, or 7% of paycheck

Read more Data Points.

Sources: VisualEconomics.com

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Owning a car puts me in the 'very rich' category, as does full clothing and shoes. I had to give up working as taxes, commute and the kid's daycare were more than the income. I actually liked working, but it was an expensive privelege. Citizenship makes me taxable, needing license and reg & insurance and not able support myself.

bruce of NJ 9:05AM July 15, 2009

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