The Weekly Digest

The Weekly Digest collects the most engaging data points and visuals from recent USAFacts stories. Dive into each report for more metrics, or skim here for a quick understanding of the numbers behind the news.

Consumer spending by the dollar

How does the average American consumer spend their money, and what are their largest expenditures? USAFacts broke down the average dollar spent by US consumers so you could see how many cents go toward various needs and categories. Take a look and compare: how do these spending habits match up to your own?  

• In 2019, for every dollar the average US consumer spent, 33 cents were for housing costs. Consumers spent 17 cents on transportation, including car payments, public transit fees, gasoline, and parking. Thirteen cents per dollar were spent on food.
  
• Consumers spent the least of their money, one cent each per dollar, on miscellaneous items, personal care products, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco products.
  
• How does this compare to what the government spends? USAFacts has that, too. For example, while the government supports housing through spending, it was 1% of the 2019 budget.
  
• The national government also spent 14% of its budget on defense. However, consumer spending on home security was small enough that it didn’t register in government data.

Explore government spending by the dollar, including Medicare, veteran care, NASA, and more, right here. 

New laws impacting LGBTQ Americans

At least 12 states have passed laws restricting LGBTQ access to healthcare or public facilities, or gender issue discussions, this year. Meanwhile, three states expanded LGBTQ protections. Here is how these new laws compare and contrast nationwide. 

• Alabama and Arizona define gender-affirming care differently, but both passed laws preventing such treatments for transgender children. Both states prevent transgender children from receiving puberty blockers or gender-affirming surgery. Alabama prevents hormone therapy for transgender kids; Arizona allows it.
  
• Alabama and Oklahoma passed laws requiring people to use public facilities such as restrooms according to their sex instead of gender. This is similar to a law North Carolina passed in 2016 and reversed a year later.
• Maryland expanded non-discrimination laws, stating that schools cannot discriminate against students based on gender identity. Vermont passed a law allowing people to amend their birth certificates to reflect their gender identities.

See more here.

One last fact

As the national conversation turns to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, find USAFacts’ abortion articles and data in one spot. See information on trigger laws, new restrictions, expanded protections, plus demographic data on who gets abortions.