However, different regions of the U.S. show slightly different behavior when it comes to entertainment spending. The Midwest leads the country in average annual entertainment spending, at $3,368, and in spending on entertainment as a percentage of overall household spending, at 5.6%. Interestingly, this phenomenon does not appear to be strongly connected with income levels: the South and Midwest have similar average pre-tax incomes around $78,000, but Midwesterners spend nearly $1,000 more per year on entertainment than their Southern counterparts.
At the local level, the top entertainment spenders are spread across the country and, like the regions, include both higher-earning and lower-earning areas. For example, a household in Minneapolis and a household in San Francisco spend approximately the same total amount on entertainment, even though the typical income in San Francisco is more than $40,000 higher.
The data used in this study is from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. To identify the major U.S. metros spending the most on entertainment, researchers at Namechk.com calculated total entertainment spending as a proportion of total spending for each location. In the event of a tie, the location with the greater total entertainment spending was ranked higher. Only the largest metropolitan statistical areas with available data from BLS were included in the analysis.
Here are the major U.S. metros spending the most on entertainment.
