Food Spending Stats

The average family of four spends nearly $9,000 a year on food.

That's based on federal surveys in 2004--the most recent year for which data are available--showing that the average annual per person spending on food in America was $2,207. Of that total, roughly $1,350 per person was spent for meals consumed at home, another $860 for food eaten in restaurants or elsewhere.

Spending varied substantially by income and family status. For instance, single moms spent some $1,600 per person on food, while married couples without children spent an average of $2,740 per person to eat each year. People living alone spent more than twice as much on their food each year, per capita, than did families of at least six.

Finally, food costs comprised a larger share of income for the poorest families—about 37 percent of household income compared to just 6.6 percent of income for the wealthiest households.

Source: Blisaard, N. and H. Stewart. 2007. Food Spending in American Households, 2003-04. USDA Economic Research Service, Economic Information Bulletin #23(March). Available at: http://www.ers.usda.gov