In a FEDS Note, Federal Reserve Board staff analyze new spending measures in the 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, which directly captures annual spending alongside income and wealth and includes an oversample of wealthy households. The results indicate that spending is more concentrated among affluent families than existing expenditure surveys suggest, although it remains substantially less concentrated than income or wealth. The survey measured USD 6.58 trillion in aggregate spending, slightly below the comparable USD 7.02 trillion recorded by the 2024 Consumer Expenditure Survey. The top decile ranked separately by income or wealth accounts for about 28 percent of total spending. The top 1 percent of spenders accounts for 9 percent of spending, compared with 19 percent of income received by the top 1 percent of earners and 32 percent of wealth held by the wealthiest 1 percent. High income families account for particularly large shares of discretionary purchases, including more than 30 percent of new car spending and 40 percent of vacation and entertainment spending. Qualitative responses provide only partial support for a K-shaped post-pandemic recovery: higher income families were not disproportionately more likely to report increased spending or improved financial well-being, but lower income families were more likely to report spending declines, lower income and worsening financial circumstances.
Federal Reserve Board staff analysis finds affluent families account for more US spending than prior surveys show
Federal Reserve Board staff analysis of new 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances measures finds that affluent families account for more spending than prior surveys indicate, although spending is less concentrated than income or wealth. The top income and wealth deciles each account for about 28 percent of spending. Evidence of a K-shaped recovery is mixed, with no disproportionate gains at the top but more reports of deterioration among lower income families.