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EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 a.m. EDT, Thursday, October 6, 2022

BEA 22–50

Personal Consumption Expenditures by State, 2021

State personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased 12.7 percent in 2021 after decreasing 1.9 percent in 2020 (table 1), according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The percent change in PCE across all 50 states and the District of Columbia ranged from 16.3 percent in Utah to 9.4 percent in New York.

Map of US, Personal Consumption Expenditures by State: Percent Change, 2020-2021

PCE by state highlights

Expenditures on food services and accommodations and health care were the largest contributors to the increase nationally (table 3).

Food services and accommodations increased 30.4 percent nationally (table 2) and was the largest contributor to increases in 20 states, including Florida, the state with the third largest increase in PCE.
Health care increased 10.4 percent nationally and was the largest contributor to increases in 29 states and the District of Columbia, including Idaho, the state with the second largest increase.
Recreational goods and vehicles increased 22.1 percent nationally and was the leading contributor to the increase in Utah, the state with the largest increase.

Map of US, Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures by State, 2021

Across all states and the District of Columbia, per capita PCE increased to $47,915 in 2021 from $42,583 in 2020 (table 4). Per capita PCE by state ranged from a high of $58,532 in Massachusetts to a low of $36,445 in Mississippi. Per capita PCE in the District of Columbia was $78,809. The 2021 per capita PCE statistics for all states and the District of Columbia reflect higher personal income in 2021 and growth in consumer spending, including expenditures on food services and accommodations and health care.

Updates to PCE by State

Today, BEA also released revised PCE statistics for 2017 to 2020 (table 5). The update incorporates revised source data that are more complete and more detailed than previously available. The update includes the results of the September 2022 annual update of the National Economic Accounts and the September 2022 annual update of the state personal income statistics.

BEA also released revised annual estimates of per capita PCE for 2010 through 2020. BEA used new U.S. Census Bureau (Census) population figures to calculate per capita PCE estimates to update annual 2020 per capita PCE statistics and to produce new per capita PCE statistics for 2021. For earlier estimates, BEA used intercensal population statistics that it developed based on Census' methodology. With these data, BEA updated its annual per capita PCE estimates from 2010 through 2019. BEA developed intercensal population statistics because these data were not available when Census released state population data for 2020 and 2021 based on the 2020 decennial counts.

BEA produced intercensal population figures to create consistent time series that are used to prepare per capita PCE statistics. BEA used Census' application of the Das Gupta method, modified to account for an extra leap year day, to produce the intercensal population figures that will be used until Census releases its official intercensal population data.

Next release: October 4, 2023
Personal Consumption Expenditures by State, 2022

Full Release & Tables (PDF)

Tables Only (Excel)

Highlights (PDF)

Interactive Tables

Technical

Steven Zemanek

301-278-9578

pcebystate@bea.gov

Media

Connie O’Connell

301-278-9003

Connie.OConnell@bea.gov

Resources

The full economic effects of the COVID–19 pandemic cannot be quantified in these statistics, because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified. For more Information about COVID–19 impacts, refer to "Federal Recovery Programs and BEA Statistics" on our website.
Stay informed about BEA developments by reading The BEA Wire, signing up for BEA's email subscription service, or following BEA on Twitter @BEA_News.
Historical time series for these estimates can be accessed in BEA's Interactive Data Application.
Access BEA data by registering for BEA's Data Application Programming Interface.
For more on BEA's statistics, see our online journal, the Survey of Current Business.
For upcoming economic indicators, see BEA's news release schedule.

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 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

Year-to-year percent changes are calculated from unrounded data.

BEA regions

BEA groups all 50 states and the District of Columbia into 8 distinct regions for purposes of presentation and analysis as follows:
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)
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.