Consumers are still spending despite higher gas prices

Summary

• Total card spending per household rose 6.2% year-over-year in September 2026.
• Spending per household excluding gasoline increased 5.1% year-over-year in September 2026.
• Both growth rates represented the third strongest performance seen in the last four years.
• On a seasonally adjusted basis, total card spending increased 0.2% month-over-month.
• Spending excluding gasoline remained roughly flat on a month-over-month basis.
• Consumer spending growth in September demonstrated breadth across various categories & income groups.
• Data is derived from aggregated & anonymized Bank of America credit & debit card transactions.
• The per household metric includes only households completing at least five transactions in the month.
• Income terciles are periodically reassessed based on quantitative estimates of household income.
• Generations are defined by birth years ranging from pre-1946 (Traditionalists) to post-1995 (Gen Z).
• Discretionary retail categories include furniture, electronics, building materials, hobbies, miscellaneous stores, nonstore retail, & clothing.
• Necessity categories include gasoline, food, & beverage.