Study Compares Food Spending at Home and Away

May 8, 2000

A new study from USDA’s Economic Research Service finds large deviations form the averages in what U.S. consumers spend on food for home consumption and for eating. Mississippi consumers spent 9% more on fast food than did New Hampshire consumers, but New Hampshire residents spent almost 78% more in table-service restaurants than consumers in Mississippi.

U.S. diets vary regionally, the study notes. But per capita expenditures on food purchased from supermarkets and other grocery retailers for food consumption at home averaged about $1,526 per year, based on most recent data, and expenditures at restaurants and fast food outlets averaged $348 and $316 respectively for a total of $2,190.

New Hampshire residents spent the most on food. Their 1992 expenditures on food at home equaled$2,171 per capita with an additional $458 spent at restaurants and another $254 at fast food outlets – about 32% more than the U.S. average.

Mississippi residents spent a combined total of only $1,750 per capita in 1992 – $1,330 on food at home, $143 on food at restaurants and $277 for fast food.

"Income also affects the types of foods purchased from grocery stores," according to the report. "In developed nations like the United States, the total quantity of food consumers is unlikely to increase appreciably with income. Therefore, the above-average expenditures on food at home, in a high-income state like New Hampshire, almost certainly reflect purchases of more expensive foods – fresh tuna versus canned; t-bone steak versus hamburger and imported natural cheese versus Cheese-Whiz, perhaps."

The report is included in the January-April issue of USDA’s publication FoodReview. The report is also available here.