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Household Food Expenditure Statistics: Budgets, Categories, and Differences

A source-based guide to U.S. food spending, annual budgets, income groups, household composition, and food security.

November 12, 2026 9 min read blackboxcake.com Editorial Team

Contents

Household food expenditure statistics in 2025: average annual budgets and shares

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported average annual food expenditures of $10,633 per consumer unit in 2025. The measure is a nominal annual mean, and the population is all U.S. consumer units. BLS defines a consumer unit broadly: it may be a household, a financially independent person living alone, or people living together who make joint expenditure decisions. The figure therefore describes consumer units rather than strictly household units. BLS, Consumer Expenditures Summary — 2025 A01 Results

Food represented 13.0% of average annual expenditures in 2025. Average annual expenditures across all consumer units were $81,905. The percentage is a share of total average expenditures, not a share of income. These measures provide a national budget context, but they do not describe every household’s individual spending pattern. BLS, Consumer Expenditures Summary — 2025 A01 Results

BLS measure, all consumer units2025 value
Average annual expenditures$81,905
Average annual food expenditures$10,633
Food as a share of average annual expenditures13.0%

BLS, Consumer Expenditures Summary — 2025 A01 Results

BLS reported that average annual food expenditures increased 4.6% from 2024 to 2025. The release marks this difference as statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. The release also notes a collection disruption: October and November 2025 survey collection was missed during the federal funding lapse, and BLS used a weight adjustment for missing data. The published annual mean should be read with that collection context in mind. BLS, Consumer Expenditures Summary — 2025 A01 Results

Household food expenditure statistics for food-at-home categories

In 2025, average food-at-home expenditures were $6,491 per consumer unit. BLS lists several component categories within this total. The figures below are average annual nominal dollars per consumer unit, not prices for individual products or spending by a particular family. BLS, Consumer Expenditures Summary — 2025 A01 Results

Food-at-home categoryAverage annual expenditure per consumer unit, 2025Change, 2024–2025
Cereals and bakery products$741−4.9%
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs$1,579+11.7%
Dairy products$644+2.1%
Fruits and vegetables$988+3.7%
Other food at home$2,539+3.8%

BLS, Consumer Expenditures Summary — 2025 A01 Results

The listed category changes vary: cereals and bakery products declined 4.9%, while meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 11.7%. Dairy products rose 2.1%, fruits and vegetables rose 3.7%, and other food at home rose 3.8% from 2024 to 2025. BLS identifies the meat-category change as statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. These are changes in average expenditures, not measures of price inflation or quantities purchased. BLS, Consumer Expenditures Summary — 2025 A01 Results

The category breakdown shows how the food-at-home budget is distributed among broad types of goods, while retaining the survey’s consumer-unit denominator. The published information here does not provide household-level differences within these categories, such as amounts by family size or individual food item. Averages can conceal substantial variation among consumer units, and the totals should not be treated as a prescribed or typical grocery budget. BLS, Consumer Expenditures Summary — 2025 A01 Results

Household food expenditure statistics for food at home versus food away from home

BLS recorded average annual food-away-from-home expenditures of $4,142 per consumer unit in 2025, a 5.0% increase from 2024. Paired with the food-at-home mean, this distinguishes spending on food prepared away from home from food acquired for home consumption. These annual means are per consumer unit and are not national aggregate totals. BLS, Consumer Expenditures Summary — 2025 A01 Results

A separate USDA national series measures total spending by consumers, businesses, and government entities in constant 2025 dollars. It put U.S. food spending at $2.51 trillion in 2025, with food away from home accounting for 56.3% of total food expenditures. Within the same inflation-adjusted series, food-away-from-home spending was $1.41 trillion and food-at-home spending was $1.10 trillion in 2025. These national totals have a much broader population and scope than BLS’s consumer-unit averages. USDA ERS, Total U.S. food spending reached $2.51 trillion in 2025

USDA national spending series1997, constant 2025 dollars2025, constant 2025 dollars
Food at home$738 billion$1.10 trillion
Food away from home$818 billion$1.41 trillion

USDA ERS, Total U.S. food spending reached $2.51 trillion in 2025

The 2025 USDA series adjusts for price changes by expressing spending in 2025 dollars. Its historical comparison therefore reports $738 billion for food at home and $818 billion for food away from home in 1997, also in constant 2025 dollars. The series covers consumers, businesses, and government entities, so it should not be read as household spending alone. USDA ERS, Total U.S. food spending reached $2.51 trillion in 2025

USDA’s Food Dollar account gives another view with a different scope: consumer spending, including domestic and imported food dollars, was $2.58 trillion in 2024. In that nominal consumer-spending series, food at home increased 1.4% from 2023 to $901 billion in 2024, while food away from home increased 4.2% to $1.27 trillion. These 2024 consumer totals should remain distinct from the inflation-adjusted 2025 national series. USDA ERS, Food Dollar — Summary Findings

Household food expenditure statistics by income quintile

Income comparisons illustrate why food spending and food’s budget burden are different measures. USDA reported that in 2024 households in the lowest income quintile spent an average of $5,498 on food, equal to 33.0% of before-tax income. Middle-income-quintile households spent $9,097, or 12.2% of before-tax income. Households in the highest income quintile spent $16,989, equal to 6.4% of before-tax income. USDA ERS, Ag and Food Statistics: Charting the Essentials — Food Prices and Spending

USDA household income quintile, 2024Average annual food spendingFood spending as share of before-tax income
Lowest$5,49833.0%
Middle$9,09712.2%
Highest$16,9896.4%

USDA ERS, Ag and Food Statistics: Charting the Essentials — Food Prices and Spending

The spending amounts rise across these selected quintiles, while the reported share of before-tax income declines. The share answers how food spending compares with income; it does not mean that the lowest-income group spends the most dollars. The 2024 BLS consumer-expenditure report offers a separate measure for consumer units: annual food expenditures averaged $5,897 in the lowest quintile, $8,831 in the third quintile, and $14,845 in the highest quintile. Those BLS figures are not identical to the USDA household estimates because the source populations and measures differ. BLS, Consumer expenditures in 2024

BLS also reported that average food expenditures for consumer units in the lowest quintile increased $220, or 4.2%, from 2023 to 2024. For the second quintile, the increase was $300, also 4.2%. These are changes for those BLS income groups over that period, not values to combine with the USDA household totals. The BLS 2025 release did not publish 2024–2025 two-year cross-tab estimates after a change in its standard-error estimation method, so the detailed 2024 quintile data remain a separate earlier-year dataset. BLS, Consumer expenditures in 2024

Household food expenditure statistics by family composition, age, race, and region

USDA’s 2024 food-spending report provides median usual weekly food spending per person for household groups. For all households included in the spending analysis, the median was $75.00 per person. Among households with children under 18, it was $60.00; for households with at least 1 child under 6, it was $53.33. Households with no children under 18 had a median of $83.33 per person. USDA ERS, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024

Household composition, 2024Median usual weekly food spending per person
All households$75.00
With children under 18 years$60.00
At least 1 child under 6 years$53.33
With no children under 18 years$83.33
Married-couple families$60.00
Female head, no spouse$60.00
Male head, no spouse$60.00
Women living alone$100.00
Men living alone$100.00
With an adult age 65 or older$75.00

USDA ERS, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024

The per-person medians differ across the listed composition groups: the measure is $100.00 for women living alone and $100.00 for men living alone, compared with $60.00 for married-couple families and for households headed by a female or male with no spouse. Households with an adult aged 65 or older have a median of $75.00. These are medians of usual weekly spending per person, not annual household means. USDA ERS, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024

The analysis excludes households that did not report spending and those reporting zero usual food spending; together, these exclusions represented 7.4% of all households. The spending measure includes food at home, food away from home, and free food. The report’s categories in this section concern household composition; the checked figures here do not provide separate age, race, or regional estimates to report. USDA ERS, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024

Household food expenditure statistics by food security status

The USDA report also compares median weekly spending per person by food security status. In 2024, food-secure households included in the analysis had median usual spending of $75.00 per person. The corresponding median was $66.67 for food-insecure households, $65.00 for households with low food security, and $70.00 for households with very low food security. These values describe usual weekly spending per person among the included groups. USDA ERS, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024

Food security status, 2024Median usual weekly food spending per personMedian spending relative to December 2024 TFP cost
Food-secure households$75.001.18
Food-insecure households$66.671.06
Households with low food security$65.001.05
Households with very low food security$70.001.10

USDA ERS, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024

The ratio column compares median spending with the household-specific cost of the December 2024 Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). The reported ratios were 1.18 for food-secure households, 1.06 for food-insecure households, 1.05 for households with low food security, and 1.10 for households with very low food security. TFP is designed for food consumed at home, while the report’s spending measure includes food at home, food away from home, and free food; the ratio therefore places the broader spending measure alongside a home-food plan benchmark. USDA ERS, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024

The spending analysis excludes nonresponse and zero-spending reports, together 7.4% of all households. The report states that TFP ratios are comparable with 2021–2023, but not with years before 2021 because the TFP was revised in 2021. Median per-person spending was not affected by that revision. The measures should consequently be read according to their stated population, period, and definition rather than treated as interchangeable household budget figures. USDA ERS, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024

Sources

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