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.

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.

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.

Original source can be found here.