average household budget percentages 2018

Our definition of single-parent families assumes that the head of household is employed, lives with his or her children, and files as the head of household for federal income tax purposes. Our definition of a married couple with no children assumes both are employed, live together, and jointly file federal income taxes. Our definition of a single person with no children assumes that he or she is employed and is the head of household for federal income tax purposes.

We make assumptions about each of the 10 family prototypes in order to generate specific cost estimates for each family type’s tax liability, child care expenses, food costs, etc. These families include a single person with no children a married couple with no children single-parent families with one, two, three, or four children and a married couple with one, two, three, or four children. We have constructed budgets for 10 different types of families in each area. The size of a family dramatically affects the budget needed to maintain a modest yet adequate standard of living. View the EPI Family Budget Calculator Definitions of families Other specific changes to the methodology of individual components of the family budget calculator are noted within the description of each component. counties and county equivalents and for all 613 HUD FMR metropolitan areas. The calculator now includes data for all 3,143 U.S. If 2023 data were unavailable, we used data from the latest available year inflated to 2023 dollars with the budget-item-appropriate inflator. The budget calculator draws upon the most recent reliable data, which in many instances is data for 2023. Compared with the federal poverty line and the Supplemental Poverty Measure, EPI’s family budgets provide a more accurate and complete measure of economic security in America. The budgets estimate community-specific costs for 10 family types (one or two adults with zero to four children). EPI’s Family Budget Calculator measures the monthly income a family needs in order to attain a modest yet adequate standard of living. This paper presents the methodology and data sources used in the 2024 update of the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator.

Average household budget percentages 2018