Last Updated Nov 19th, 2019 at 3:18 pm

A recent survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that Americans on average spent more in 2018 on taxes than they did on food, clothing, and health care combined.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey details the average spending by a consumer unit, which includes families, singles living alone, or people living together who share major expenses.

According to the survey, American consumer units spent in 2018 on average $9,031.93 on federal income taxes, $5,023.73 on Social Security taxes, $2,284.62 on state and local income taxes, $2,199.80 on property taxes, and $77.85 on “other taxes.”

This totals ups to $18,617.93.

For the same year, the average American paid $7,923.19 on food, $4,968.44 on health care, and $1,866.48 on “apparel and services.” These expenditures total to $14,758.11.

The difference between the two totals is $3,859.82.

A review of the same survey from the past six years showed that the average American consumer paid more in taxes than they did for food, clothing, and health care for each of those years.