The chart above shows the average vacation expenditures for overnight stays by US region as proportion of per capita GDP. All four US regions spend just above one percent of their per capita GDP on domestic travel.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the greatest vacation spending as proportion of per capita GDP, the Midwest, and the region with the least, the Northeast, is 0.12 percentage points.
- The Midwest has 1.10 times the average vacation expenditures as percent of per capita GDP that the Northeast does.
Caveats
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
- The vacation spending data is for domestic travel only. International travel spending as percent of per capita GDP for US regions is 7.20% for the Midwest, 7.08% for the West, 6.62% for the South, and 6.54% for the Northeast.
- The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
- The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
- The Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Details
Even though the West spends the most as a whole on their vacations, their larger income means that they spend less of their income on vacations than the Midwest even though the Midwest is one of the lower spending regions. And even though the Northeast is the second greatest spender their large income means that they spend the least of their income on vacations.
The same pattern holds true for international travel in both total dollars spent and percent of annual income spent.
Sources
Reward Expert. 2018. "Average Cost of Vacations by State." Accessed August 20, 2018. https://www.rewardexpert.com/blog/studies/average-cost-of-vacations-by-state/.
United States Census Bureau. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016." Accessed December 12, 2017. http://factfinder2.census.gov.
US Department of Commerce. 2018. "US Bureau of Economic Analysis." Accessed June 26, 2018. https://bea.gov/itable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=70&step=1#reqid=70&step=10&isuri=1&7003=1000&7035=-1&7004=naics&7005=1&7006=01000,02000,04000,05000,06000,08000,09000,10000,11000,12000,13000,15000,16000,17000,18000,19000,20000,21000,22000,23000,24000,25000,26000,27000,28000,29000,30000,31000,32000,33000,34000,35000,36000,37000,38000,39000,40000,41000,42000,44000,45000,46000,47000,48000,49000,50000,51000,53000,54000,55000,56000&7036=-1&7001=11000&7002=1&7090=70&7007=2017,2016,2015,2014,2013,2012,2011,2010,2009,2008,2007,2006&7093=levels.