Conduent HCI obtains Community Spending data through Claritas, which uses a proprietary database called Consumer Spending Dynamix (CSDx). The CSDx dataset includes household spending estimates of 678 products and services in 14 categories, which was developed using the Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data are presented starting with 2022 and updates are provided in the 3rd Quarter (July-September) of each year.
HCI Community Spending Indicators are available at geographic levels, including state, county, zip code, and census tract of residence, in two groupings: 1) Spending-to-Income Indicators and 2) Community Spending Indicators. Below is a summary of the methodology for each group.
Spending-to-Income Indicators: These indicators show the ratio between the average spending among households that spent on the category and the median household income for the region. The indicator is calculated by dividing the average spending for households who made a purchase in the category by the median household income in the region.
Spending-to-Income indicators help show the potential impact of spending in each category in relation to income and includes breakouts by the race and ethnicity of the household. Gauges for these indicators show values as “good” or “better” (green) if they are lower than the comparison value as this represents a lower burden of spending as a percentage of income. Values are “bad” or “worse” (red) if they are higher than the comparison value as this shows a higher burden of spending as a percentage of income.
Community Spending Indicators: These indicators show the proportion of aggregate household spending on the category as a percentage of total aggregate household spending for the region. Community Spending Indicators help show how communities allocate household financial resources to basic amenities such as education, food, healthcare, housing, and transportation. Indicators are calculated across five different household groups (Total, White, Black, Asian, and Hispanic). Each indicator also includes breakouts of subcategories that make up the indicator. For example, the Community Spending on Transportation indicator includes the overall value for transportation spending as well as breakouts for public transportation, vehicle expenses, etc.
Community Spending Indicator values vary based on regional economic factors such as cost of living and local wages. Therefore, gauges for these indicators utilize neutral (blue) color coding rather than “good” (green) or “bad” (red) comparisons to reflect the distinct spending patterns for each region.