Consumption patterns change as the population ages

Summary

• The US population is aging with Census Bureau projections indicating a further shift toward older age groups over the coming decades.
• Overall population growth is expected to slow, making older consumers increasingly central to the economy.
• Older households allocate more of their card spending to groceries & travel compared to overall households.
• Older households allocate less of their card spending to eating out, gasoline, general merchandise, & clothing compared to overall households.
• The data compares the share of total card spending by households aged 61-75 & 75+ relative to overall households' spending share for the period January-July 2026.
• The analysis uses aggregated & anonymized Bank of America transaction data from US Retail, Preferred, Small Business, & Wealth Management clients.
• The dataset includes total credit card, debit card, ACH, wires, bill pay, business/peer-to-peer, cash, & checks spending.
• Small business clients included in the data generally have under $5mm in annual sales revenue.
• Per household card spending growth only includes households that complete at least five transactions with Bank of America cards in the month.
• Income terciles are determined by quantitative estimates, with the lowest tercile representing 'lower income', the middle 'middle income', & the highest 'higher income'.
• Generations are defined as Gen Z (born after 1995), Younger Millennials (1989-1995), Older Millennials (1978-1988), Gen Xers (1965-1977), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), & Traditionalists (pre-1946).
• Services necessity spending includes groceries, utilities, & gasoline.
• Discretionary services include charitable donations, leisure travel, entertainment, & professional/consumer services.
• Discretionary retail includes general merchandise, miscellaneous, clothing, electronics, & furniture.
• Durables spending covers electronics, building materials, auto-related spending, & furniture.
• Holiday spending is defined as items where spending in the November-December period is usually at least 20% of total annual spending on the category.
• The report was prepared by Bank of America Institute contributors Liz Everett Krisberg & David Michael Tinsley.