Metro Denver households pulled down an extra $29,308 in income compared to the typical U.S. household in 2019 and 2020 and spent about $13,572 more. And how they divided up their spending diverged significantly in four key areas, according to the latest from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Households in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan area spend an average of $75,760 in 2019 and 2020 compared to $62,188 for U.S. households, noted BLS regional commissioner Michael Himiak in the report. That works out to Denver-area households spending $1.22 for every $1 spent by the typical U.S. household.
In about four of the eight major spending categories of spending, Denver-area households divided slices of the spending pie similar to the rest of the country, including housing at 34.3%, transportation at 16.8% and education and cash contributions or donations at 3% each.
In four key areas, spending did vary in a statistically different way. Health care accounted for 7.5% of spending among Denver-area households, compared to 8.3% of spending nationally. That could reflect a slightly younger population in the Denver sample, but Colorado has consistently boasted the state with the lowest obesity rate, so it could also represent a payoff for staying healthier.
Denver-area households also show a work hard play hard ethic, devoting a higher share of spending to entertainment, 6.2% versus 4.9% for the country as a whole. They matched U.S. households in devoting 0.9% of spending to alcohol but directed a smaller share of spending to tobacco and related products, 0.3% vs. 0.5%.
The heavier emphasis on entertainment spending doesn’t mean they aren’t also future-focused. Denver-area households concentrated more spending on personal insurance and pensions, at 13% of total spending versus 11.6% nationally. That category measures the money set aside to deal with contingencies and retirement.
Everyone has to eat, but Denver-area households devote less of their spending to that category than any major metro studied outside of Dallas. Food accounts for 10.3% of spending in Denver versus 12.5% of household spending nationally. The cities where residents devote the largest share of their budgets to food are Honolulu at 16.3%, Atlanta at 15% and Tampa and Anchorage at 14.1%.
