Overseeing the problem of having to pay too much for a service, or miscalculating expenditures when going to your favorite restaurant, Mint.com in an attempt to solve the problem today launches Mint Data in public beta.

Mint Data’s source of data are its 4 million users delivering an unprecedented real-time economic index. It shows us consumers actual amounts spent on restaurant, retailers and more, comparison city-by-city or by individual expenditure, with the area or national average, either by category or merchant.

What’s great about this tool is that it brings a higher level of analysis to individual consumers, empowering them to take more control over their own data and finances.  It reflects much of what’s taking place in the cloud, particularly for the finance and health industries.  As businesses gain more analytics tools for their own purposes, these tools can eventually work their way down into consumer level products, like Mint.com.

“When we first crossed the million-user mark, we looked at the stories the anonymous, aggregated customer data could tell about the economy,” said Aaron Patzer, vice president and general manager of Intuit Inc.’s (Nasdaq: INTU) Personal Finance Group and founder of Mint.

“Now, we have enough users in enough cities across America to give a distinct, anonymous look at the country’s economy down to the city level. What do we spend on restaurants? Which stores are a particular town’s favorites? How has the downturn affected things like coffee or bars? People may use the information they find to help them make better money decisions.”

Additionally, Mint.com is now a part of Intuit, the makers of Quicken. Quicken recently had an update with several great new features and Mint.com is also working on partners. They also recently teamed with Zillow.