Houston, here are your spending habits

If you live in Houston, chances are you have a lot of clothes, eat out often and buy cheap groceries. Right? Right, according to the results of a federal survey on Americans' spending habits. Among the findings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• Houstonians' average household income, before taxes, was $63,981 in 2003-04 — well above the national average of $53,109. After taxes, local households had $48,063 to spend, on average, compared with the national average of $42,166.
• Even though we have more disposable income, we dispose of less of it on groceries than the average American: Houstonians spend $3,107 a year on groceries, on average, while Americans spend $3,238. It's not clear if that's because Houstonians buy less groceries than the average American or because we buy cheaper food.
• The answer to the grocery question might lie in the fact that Houstonians spend as much eating out as they do on groceries. But contrary to what Houstonist expected, we don't eat out more, on average, than people in other cities do — in Atlanta, people spend 6.5 percent of their annual budgets on eating out, while Houstonians spend 5.5 percent.
• Houstonians spend more on clothes than the average American: $2,100 a year on average, as opposed to $1,728 nationally. Analysts say that might be because Houston's rich and famous still dress relatively formally for parties and events or because Houston has a lot of upscale shopping. Houstonians spend nearly twice as much on clothes each year as people in trendy Miami.
• The new clothes apparently inspire Houstonians to clean living: We spend an average of $297 a year on alcoholic beverages and $258 on tobacco, compared with national averages of $425 and $289, respectively.
• The good news is that we're also saving more: The average Houstonian puts 11.1 percent of income into their retirement accounts, compared with the national average of 9.7 percent. Which means one day, way in the future, we'll have the money to travel and see how the other half lives.