Average Household Spending in 2019: $63,036

Average household spending surpassed $63,000 in 2019—but just barely. The $63,036 spent by the average household in 2019 was 1.1 percent greater than spending in 2018, after adjusting for inflation. Spending in 2019 was the highest ever recorded by the Consumer Expenditure Survey and 12 percent above the post-Great Recession low of $56,077 in 2013. 

That's all ancient history now that the coronavirus pandemic has destroyed millions of jobs and plunged the U.S. into a recession. We will have to wait another year before the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the 2020 Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Only then will be be able to measure the impact of the Covid-19 Recession on household spending. 

Average household spending, 2006 to 2019 (in 2019 dollars)
2019: $63,036 (record high)

2018: $62,332
2017: $62,643
2015: $60,378
2013: $56,077 (post-Great Recession low)
2010: $56,403
2006: $61,374 (pre-Great Recession record high)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019 Consumer Expenditure Survey