Real personal consumption expenditures (PCE) by state increased in 48 states and the District of Columbia in 2023, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The percent change in real PCE ranged from 7.3 percent in Maine to –0.6 percent in Alabama (table 1).
Real personal income increased in 46 states and the District of Columbia in 2023, with the percent change ranging from 6.0 percent in Vermont to –2.0 percent in Iowa.
Regional estimates of real PCE and real personal income are the current-dollar estimates adjusted by the corresponding regional price parity (RPP) and the national PCE price index. In 2023, the national PCE price index increased 3.8 percent (table 2).
Real PCE highlights
Real PCE for the nation increased 2.5 percent in 2023. Current-dollar PCE (see “Consumer Spending by State”) increased 6.4 percent, more than the national PCE price index.
- Maine had the largest increase in real PCE, at 7.3 percent. Current-dollar PCE increased 7.4 percent, while its implicit regional price deflator increased 0.1 percent (table 2).
- Vermont had the second-largest increase in real PCE, at 6.7 percent. Current-dollar PCE increased 6.0 percent, while its implicit regional price deflator decreased 0.7 percent.
- Alabama had the largest decline in real PCE, at –0.6 percent. Current-dollar PCE increased 5.5 percent, while its implicit regional price deflator increased 6.1 percent.
Real personal income highlights
Real personal income for the nation increased 2.1 percent in 2023. Current-dollar personal income (see “Personal Income by State”) increased 5.9 percent, more than the national PCE price index.
- Vermont had the largest increase in real personal income, at 6.0 percent. Current-dollar personal income increased 5.3 percent, while its implicit regional price deflator decreased 0.7 percent.
- Maine had the second-largest increase in real personal income, at 5.9 percent. Current-dollar personal income increased 6.0 percent, while its implicit regional price deflator increased 0.1 percent.
- Iowa had the largest decline in real personal income, at –2.0 percent. Current-dollar personal income increased 2.2 percent, while its implicit regional price deflator increased 4.3 percent.
Regional price parities
Regional price parities measure the differences in price levels across states for a given year and are expressed as a percentage of the overall national price level.
The all items RPP covers all consumption goods and services including housing rents. Housing rents are often the main driver in differences in RPPs.
- States with the highest RPPs were California, at 112.6, New Jersey, at 108.9, and Hawaii, at 108.6. The RPP in the District of Columbia was 110.8 (table 2).
- States with the lowest RPPs were Arkansas, at 86.5, Mississippi, at 87.3, and South Dakota, at 88.1.
- Across states, California had the highest RPP for housing rents, at 157.8, and Mississippi had the lowest, at 54.9. The RPP for housing rents in the District of Columbia was 168.5.
Metropolitan area real personal income and RPP statistics are available in tables 3 and 4 as well as on the BEA website.
Annual update to regional real PCE and real personal income
The estimates for 2023 incorporate the results of BEA’s annual update of real PCE by state and real personal income by state and metropolitan area that was also released today. The annual estimates of real PCE by state and real personal income by state and metropolitan area from 2019 to 2022 were revised. This update incorporates new and revised source data that are more complete and more detailed than previously available and aligns the states and metropolitan areas with the annual update of the National Income and Product Accounts and the gross domestic product (GDP) by industry statistics released on September 26, 2024; the GDP and personal income by state statistics released on September 27, 2024; the PCE by state statistics released on October 3, 2024; and the personal income by county and metropolitan area statistics released on November 14, 2024.
BEA released new estimates of real per capita PCE and real per capita personal income for 2023. BEA used U.S. Census Bureau population figures to calculate per capita estimates for 2020 through 2023. For earlier estimates, BEA used intercensal population statistics that it developed based on Census Bureau methodology. See “Note on Per Capita Personal Consumption Expenditures and Population.”
Next release: December 11, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. EST
Real Personal Consumption Expenditures by State and
Real Personal Income by State and Metropolitan Area, 2024
Note: Regional Economic Accounts news releases will no longer include a separate “Release Highlights” document as part of the releases’ “Related Materials.” Information previously included in Highlights will continue to be available in the news releases and on BEA’s website.
Price indexes commonly measure price changes over time. The PCE price index and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) are two examples. Spatial price indexes measure price level differences across regions for one period. An example of these types of indexes are purchasing power parities, which measure differences in price levels across countries for a given period and can be used to convert estimates of per capita GDP into comparable levels in a common currency. The RPP that BEA has developed compares price levels across regions within the United States. An implicit regional price deflator (IRPD) can be derived by combining the RPPs and the U.S. PCE price index and can be used to compare regional price levels over time.
Regional price parities. The RPPs are calculated using price quotes for a wide array of items from the CPI covering apparel, education, food, housing, medical, recreation, transportation, and other goods and services.1 Data on housing rents are obtained separately from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). The expenditure weights for each category are constructed using BEA PCE and Census ACS housing rents expenditures.2
The CPI price levels and the ACS housing rents are combined with the expenditure weights using a multilateral aggregation method that expresses a region’s price level relative to that of the United States.3
For example, if the RPP for area A is 120 and for area B is 90, then price levels are 20 percent higher and 10 percent lower than the U.S. average for A and B, respectively. If the personal income for area A is $12,000 and for area B is $9,000, then RPP-adjusted incomes are $10,000 (or $12,000/1.20) and $10,000 (or $9,000/0.90), respectively. In other words, the purchasing power of the two incomes is equivalent when adjusted by their respective RPPs.
Implicit regional price deflator. The IRPD is a regional price index derived as the product of two terms: the RPP and the U.S. PCE price index.
The IRPD will equal current-dollar PCE divided by real PCE in constant dollars. The growth rate or year-to-year change in the IRPDs is a measure of regional inflation.4
For complete information on the data sources and estimating methods, see “Regional Price Parities, Real Personal Consumption Expenditures, and Real Personal Income.”
- The BEA RPP statistics are based in part on restricted-access CPI data from BLS. The BEA statistics presented herein are products of BEA and not BLS.
- See “Improved Measures of Housing Services for the U.S. Economic Accounts,” Survey of Current Business 101 (May 2021). To estimate RPPs, annual average CPI price quotes and ACS housing rents are quality adjusted. The rents data are from the ACS Public Use Microdata Sample, and results incorporate BEA’s new method for estimating housing services across the regional and national accounts.
- The multilateral system that is used is the Geary additive method. Any region or combination of regions may be used as the base or reference region without loss of consistency.
- The growth rate of the IRPDs will not necessarily equal the region or metropolitan area price deflators published by BLS. This is because the CPI deflators are calculated directly, while the IRPDs are indirect estimates based on CPI and ACS price levels and PCE expenditure weights.
