THE COST OF LIVING IN UNITED STATES IN 1926 31 
they did at the beginning, while the two-tenths of a point 
saved on rent was absorbed by the relative increase in the 
cost of fuel and light. 
Tare 12: ReLaTive ImporTaNCE OF Major ITEMS IN THE 
FamiLy Bupcers oF AMERICAN WaGE EARNERS, ON 
SpeciFiED DATES, Basep on CuanGes IN THE CosT OF 
Eacu ITEM, JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 1926 
(National Industrial Conference Board) 
Note.—This table continues figures for 1914-1925 given in a corresponding 
table (12) on page 158 in “The Cost of Living in the United States, 1914-1926.” 
Date 
Food 
Shelter | Clothing 
"uel and 
Light 
' Sundries 
21.1 
21.1 
21.2 
21.1 
"11 
21.2 
21.4 
21.4 
21.1 
3 21.2 
5 21.0 
<6 211 
o This figure includes an estimate of changes in the cost of fuel, based on prices 
of anthracite substitutes. 
Scope of Inquiry 
The indexes here published rest upon figures collected in 
cities throughout the country. The food prices are those 
collected by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for 
43 articles in 51 cities throughout the United States. For 
other items, rent, fuel, and clothing, the number of cities 
reporting and the number of reports received directly by the 
National Industrial Conference Board at each inquiry from 
March, 1920, to December, 1926, are shown in Table 13. 
It will be noted that the coverage since 1921 has been 
maintained at about the same level throughout. Until No- 
vember, 1925, figures were collected on a comprehensive basis 
three times a year, while since that time the monthly study 
of the cost of living has been upon this basis. With this 
change no alteration was introduced into the methods of 
compilation which would prevent the newer monthly figures 
from being strictly comparable with the earlier tables.