For a work project, I've been working with the Consumer Expenditure Survey data, which is what the feds use to calculate the inflation rate. The detailed data shows some very interesting spending patterns for U.S. households.

On audio equipment, the average U.S. household spends about $41 a year. Yup, that's right! Considering that some people spend more than that on just audio cables, it should tell you something about how unusual it is to be as dedicated to the hobby as a lot of us are. It should also tell you something about how difficult it is to keep a local audio store in business if most households are this tightfisted about investing any money into audio (it would also explain why there are so few audio stores out there in each community, period).

Here are some other bits of spending trivia:

Average spending on CDs, tapes, and records: $45
Average spending on video games: $25
Average spending on video tapes, discs: $36
Average spending on video rentals: $41
Average spending on TVs, video equipment: $67
Average restaurant/take out spending: $1,981
Average grocery spending: $3,217
Average spending on alcoholic beverages (at home): $255

Well, with us Americans spending five times as much on alcohol as we do on audio equipment, at least our priorities are straight!