Average monthly expenses: one person, a couple, a family

Every year the BLS asks thousands of households what they spent. The result is the most trusted answer to “what is the average cost of living,” and 2024 (released December 19, 2025) is the latest year posted. It counts spending, so income taxes are not in it. We divided the yearly averages by 12. A “household of two people” here is any two people who share money, so it is not only couples.

Average monthly living expenses, by category

Housing is the biggest line, 39 percent of what a one-person household spends and 33 percent for two people. Together with transportation and food, three lines take most of the month.

Average monthly expenses by household size

More people cost more, but not in a straight line. The second person adds about two thirds to the first person's costs. The third and fourth add less each, and a fifth adds less still.

Average monthly expenses for a family of 4, a couple and a single parent

The count of people is only part of it. Whether there are children changes the picture, so this table uses the BLS “composition” groups.

Average cost of living for a single person

A one-person household spent $48,794 in 2024 on an income before taxes of $50,990. That leaves little room, and it is an average of people at every income, so it says more about what is typical than about what is enough. A few lines worth knowing:

More detail on single lines: utilities, clothing and groceries.

Average monthly expenses for a couple

Two people spend about $6,736 a month, which is 66 percent more than one person and not double. Sharing a home, a car and a kitchen is the reason. Here is where it differs most:

The pattern is the same everywhere: the second person adds less than the first, except where each person needs their own, like phones, insurance and clothes.

Average entertainment and eating out per month

Entertainment averages $301 a month across households, $182 for one person and $328 for two. It includes fees and admissions, audio and visual equipment and services, pets and hobbies. Eating out is counted in food: $187 a month for one person and $339 for two.

Average monthly expenses by age

Spending climbs through the working years, peaks between 45 and 54, then falls after retirement. Health care goes the other way: it grows with age while most other lines shrink.

Average monthly expenses by region

The West costs about $1,850 a month more than the South, and most of the gap is housing: $2,679 against $1,938.

Renters vs. homeowners: average monthly expenses

Renters spend the least overall, but housing is their biggest share: about 39 percent of spending, against 33 percent for owners with a mortgage.

Fixed monthly expenses vs. variable

Fixed monthly expenses are the bills that come due every month for about the same amount. The CFPB's glossary describes them that way and calls costs whose amount differs from month to month variable expenses. The BLS does not split spending that way, so the sorting below is ours, applied to the 2024 one-person averages above.

Add the three fixed lines and you get about $1,384 a month, before a car payment, phone and loans, which the BLS tables used here do not report as a line. Your own fixed costs are easier to see in a list: 26 examples of fixed expenses, or the wider household expenses list.

What one person saves by living with another

Two people spend $6,736 a month, so $3,368 each. One person alone spends $4,066. That is $698 less each, or 17 percent, which is the gain from sharing a home. The split between you can still be even or by income; see how much of your income goes to each thing and budget categories for what to track.

How to compare your own spending to these averages

1. Pick the right column. Match your household size first, then check age, region and whether you rent.
2. Use three months of your own spending. Add up everything that left your accounts in the last three months, by category, and divide by three. One month can be odd.
3. Leave out what the survey leaves out. Income taxes are not in these numbers, and neither is money you moved to savings. Set both aside before you compare.
4. Line up the categories. The BLS puts rent, utilities and household goods in housing, and car payments, gas and insurance in transportation. Group yours the same way.
5. Look at the gaps, not the total. Being $400 over on one line is more useful to know than being $100 under overall.

These are averages of many different households. Being above or below one says little on its own. Your income and your goals say more.

How a couple might split these expenses

With $6,736 a month between you, the rule matters more than any one line. Common ways to do it:

• 50/50. Each pays $3,368. Easy to explain, and it works well when your pay is close.
• By income. If one of you brings home 60 percent of the household's pay, that person pays about $4,042 and the other about $2,694. The lower earner keeps a fairer share of their own pay.
• Shared bills together, the rest your own. Rent, utilities and groceries are split by one rule, and each of you spends the rest as you like.

Put your two pays into the fair split calculator to see what each rule does, or read how to split bills by income.

Ways to bring monthly expenses down

• Start with your own numbers. Add up the last three months by category and divide by three. Then hold them against the table, line by line.
• Go after the big lines first. Housing, transportation and food are about 65 percent of spending for one person and 63 for two. A $50 saving on a $15 line does little next to $50 off a $1,300 one.
• Look at what repeats. Subscriptions, insurance and phone plans quietly come out every month, and each is worth a call.
• Split the shared costs the same way each month. It saves a monthly argument.
• Put saving in before spending. Move money to savings the day you are paid, then spend what is left.

An average is a yardstick, not a target. Your rent, city and pay decide your real number.