- Average household spending on vehicle finance charges fell from $328 in 2000 to a low of $204 in 2013, then more than doubled to $418 by 2024.
- That 2013-to-2024 increase, +104.9%, is one of the sharpest reversals of any vehicle ownership cost category tracked by BLS.
- Financing costs as a share of the vehicle's own purchase price fell from 9.6% in 2000 to a low of 5.4% in 2015, then rose back to 7.8% by 2024—a pattern that lines up with the shift from a low-interest-rate decade to a higher-rate one.
- Despite more than doubling since 2013, finance charges as a share of household income are still lower in 2024 (0.40%) than they were in 2000 (0.73%).
01 Introduction
Average household spending on vehicle finance charges fell from $328 in 2000 to a low of $204 in 2013, then more than doubled to $418 by 2024—a 104.9% swing. Most new and used vehicle purchases in the U.S. are financed rather than paid for in cash, which means the interest paid on that loan is a real, ongoing cost of ownership. This article uses the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey, which has tracked average household spending on vehicle finance charges every year since 2000, independent of any lender, dealership, or credit union.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables, 2000–2024The figures below are average annual expenditure per consumer unit (BLS's term for a household) on interest and finance charges from vehicle loans, not a specific loan's interest rate or monthly payment.
02 The Full 25-Year History: A U-Shaped Curve
Unlike vehicle insurance or maintenance costs, which generally trended upward over the full 25-year period, vehicle finance charges traced a clear U-shape: falling for over a decade, bottoming out in 2013, then climbing sharply back up.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables ("Vehicle finance charges" line item), 2000–2024| Year | Avg. Annual Spending | Index (2000 = 100) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $418 | 127 |
| 2023 | $361 | 110 |
| 2022 | $295 | 90 |
| 2021 | $272 | 83 |
| 2020 | $258 | 79 |
| 2019 | $252 | 77 |
| 2018 | $222 | 68 |
| 2017 | $220 | 67 |
| 2016 | $226 | 69 |
| 2015 | $216 | 66 |
| 2014 | $208 | 63 |
| 2013 | $204 | 62 |
| 2012 | $223 | 68 |
| 2011 | $233 | 71 |
| 2010 | $243 | 74 |
| 2009 | $281 | 86 |
| 2008 | $312 | 95 |
| 2007 | $305 | 93 |
| 2006 | $298 | 91 |
| 2005 | $297 | 91 |
| 2004 | $323 | 98 |
| 2003 | $371 | 113 |
| 2002 | $397 | 121 |
| 2001 | $359 | 109 |
| 2000 | $328 | 100 |
Finance charges peaked early, at $397 in 2002, then declined almost every year through the 2008 financial crisis and into the low-interest-rate decade that followed, bottoming out at $204 in 2013—a 48.6% decline from the 2002 peak. From there, the trend reversed just as clearly: by 2024, spending had climbed back to $418, a 104.9% increase from the 2013 low.
Calculated: ($204 − $397) / $397 = -48.6%; ($418 − $204) / $204 = 104.9%. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys.Estimate your vehicle's driving cost using official EPA fuel economy data.
Use the Calculator03 Financing Cost Relative to the Vehicle Itself
Raw dollar figures for finance charges don't account for the fact that the vehicles being financed also got more expensive over the same period. Dividing finance charges by the average vehicle purchase amount each year gives a cleaner "effective financing cost" measure.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables ("Vehicle finance charges" and "Vehicle purchases (net outlay)" line items)| Year | Finance Charges | Vehicle Purchases | Financing Cost Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $328 | $3,418 | 9.60% |
| 2015 | $216 | $3,997 | 5.40% |
| 2024 | $418 | $5,337 | 7.83% |
Vehicle purchase spending itself rose 56.1% from 2000 to 2024 (from $3,418 to $5,337), nearly as much as finance charges rose in dollar terms. But the financing cost ratio still shows a real increase in the relative cost of borrowing: financing consumed 5.40% of the average vehicle purchase amount at its 2015 low, versus 7.83% in 2024—consistent with loans becoming more expensive to carry, not just larger because vehicles cost more. Note that the ratio's low point (2015) doesn't line up exactly with the raw-dollar low point (2013, from Fig. 1) — vehicle purchase spending was still rising in 2014–2015, which pushed the ratio slightly lower even as finance charges themselves ticked back up.
Calculated: ($5,337 − $3,418) / $3,418 = 56.1%04 Finance Charges as a Share of Household Income
Measured against average household income before taxes, finance charges look smaller today than they did at the start of the series, even after the recent run-up.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year tables ("Income before taxes" and "Vehicle finance charges" line items)| Year | Finance Charges | Household Income | Share of Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $328 | $44,649 | 0.73% |
| 2013 | $204 | $63,784 | 0.32% |
| 2024 | $418 | $104,207 | 0.40% |
05 Methodology and Caveats
All figures in this article come directly from BLS's published Consumer Expenditure Survey tables, without independent recalculation of the underlying survey data.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys- Figures are averages across all consumer units (BLS's term for a household), including households with no vehicle loan that year, not an average among only those actively financing a vehicle.
- "Vehicle purchases (net outlay)" reflects the net amount spent on vehicle purchases after trade-in credit, not the full sticker price of vehicles bought that year, and is not a one-to-one match to the loan principal behind the finance charges reported the same year.
- These are nominal dollar figures, not adjusted for inflation. The ratios in this article account for the vehicle purchase amount and household income, but do not separately adjust for consumer price inflation.
- Data before 2013 uses a differently labeled income line item in BLS's own tables ("Income before taxes 1/" or "Income before taxes a/", both denoting the same measure with a different footnote reference across table vintages).
06 Data Sources
Every figure in this article comes from a U.S. government source. No proprietary, estimated, or third-party data was used.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Expenditure Surveys, multi-year expenditure tables, 2000–2005, 2006–2012, 2013–2020, and 2021–2024. bls.gov/cex