Consumer Expenditure indicators are a supplemental data set available through a partnership with Claritas, a nationwide market research group specializing in community-level indicators. Each indicator is available at the county, zip code, census tract, and rollup (if applicable) level to provide neighborhood-level insights into consumer expenditures that may impact health outcomes.
Consumer Expenditures indicators are available in two groupings:
Expenditure-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. These indicators help show the potential impact of spending in each category in relation to income. Indicators include:
- Cigarette Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- College Tuition Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Day Care Center and Preschool Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Elder Care Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Gasoline and Other Fuels Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Health Insurance Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Home Child Care Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Home Renter Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Homeowner Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Student Loan Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Utilities Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
- Vocational, Technical, and Other School Tuition Expenditure-to-Income Ratio
Community Expenditures Indicators: These indicators show the proportion of aggregate household spending on the category as a percentage of total aggregate household expenditures for the region. These indicators help show how communities are allocating household financial resources for each category. Indicators include:
- Community Expenditures on Education
- Community Expenditures on Food
- Community Expenditures on Healthcare
- Community Expenditures on Housing
- Community Expenditures on Transportation
Subcategory and Race/Ethnicity Breakouts
These indicators also provide breakouts for the data:
- Subcategory Breakouts: Community Expenditures indicators (e.g., Community Expenditures on Housing) will include breakouts of the subcategories that make up the indicator (e.g., Owned Housing, Rented Housing).
- Race/Ethnicity Breakouts: Each indicator includes breakouts by the race/ethnicity of the household. Categories include Asian alone, Black alone, White alone, and Hispanic.
For more information on methodology, please view the article Claritas Consumer Expenditures Indicators Methodology.
The cost for adding these indicators to your Community Dashboard depends on the locales covered on your site. Please ask your Account Manager for further information.
Note: Prior to November 2022, Consumer Expenditure indicators were displayed as average dollar amounts spent on health-related products and displayed as “Consumer Expenditures: [Category Name].” Indicators were available for the following categories: Alcoholic beverages, Childcare, Education, Eldercare, Fast food restaurants, Fruits and vegetables, Health insurance, High sugar beverages, High sugar foods, Home rental expenses, Homeowner expenses, Local public transportation, Medical services, Medical supplies, Prescription and non-prescription drugs, and Tobacco and marijuana. Changes were made to the calculation and display of indicators in November 2022 based on updates to data available from the indicator source and client feedback.