Gen X Consumers Account for 34% of U.S. Sales

With nearly seven in 10 Gen X households no longer raising kids at home, they're shifting their focus toward pets and premium brands. They account for 34% of all consumer packaged goods (CPG), general merchandise, and quick-service restaurant sales (QSR). Numerator tracks purchase data and surveys verified buyers to understand shifts in consumer behavior.

The Numerator Generations Hub leverages verified purchase and survey data to uncover the generational differences in consumer behavior and the trends driving them. Here's what researchers learned about Gen X (born 1965-1981) households: Gen X's share of spend in U.S.

CPG, general merchandise, and QSR is 34%, the highest of any generation. The average Gen X household spends $25,468 (CPG, general merchandise, and quick-service restaurant spend) annually in stores, making around 824 shopping trips a year, and spending $31 per trip. The top retailers for Gen X are Walmart (15% of spend), Amazon (11%), Costco (6%), Kroger (4%), and Target (3%).

The top brands that over index with Gen X are Crown Royal (25% of Gen X households), Combos (18%), Malibu (17%), Watchamacallit (14%), and Munchos (14%). Gen X remains a predominantly White shopper base at 61%, but diversity is notable with 16% identifying as Black, 16% as Hispanic, and 5% as Asian. Nearly seven in 10 Gen X households (69%) no longer have children at home.

Gen X households without children spend more on pet care (+15%) and less on household products (-12%), grocery (-16%), health & beauty (-20%), and baby (-25%) compared to Gen X households with children. Gen X incomes skew higher than average with 45% of households earning more than $125K annually. Geographically, Gen X is most likely to live in the suburbs (39%) followed by urban areas (35%) and rural regions (27%).

Gen X says that the factors that have the most influence over the products or brands they buy are friends and family (51%), online reviews (34%), retailers or stores they shop at (32%), brands (26%), and traditional advertising (18%). Gen X carries the lowest private label share across CPG and general merchandise among all generations (17.1% of spend).