The Average American Household’s Annual Food Expenses

Recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that food prices grew by 3.2% between April 2025 and 2026. Thankfully, that isn’t a significant increase compared to previous years, although some specific categories, such as wholesale beef (14%) and fresh fruits and vegetables (11%), grew faster.

Conversely, the price of eggs, dairy products and fats and oils is expected to keep falling in 2026, so there are savings to be made by adapting to changing food prices.

To help consumers better understand their budgets, CashNetUSA analyzed spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2024 Consumer Expenditure Survey and compiled data on how Americans are spending on food. We also segmented the data by age group, highlighting how spending patterns differ across the generations.

Key Findings: How much do Americans spend on food?

• Food accounts for 12.9% of the average American’s household expenses — only Housing (33.4%) and Transportation (17.0%) take a bigger bite.
• Gen Z eats out more than any other generation, spending 41.5% of its annual food budget on food away from home.
• The Silent Generation is America’s biggest caffeine consumer, with 23.5% of its total nonalcoholic beverage budget spent on coffee.
• Americans spend $719 per year on snacks, with chips making up the largest share of the budget ($214).

The average American spends 12.9% of their household budget on food.

We started by calculating the average annual household expenditure, then breaking that down into separate categories to show how much of the average household’s money goes towards food and how much on other items.

The average household spends over $10,169 per year (or 12.9% of its budget) on food. The price of eggs, which has become a prominent symbol of inflation and cost-of-living pressures in the U.S., spiked to a record high of $6.23 per dozen in 2025, driven by supply chain disruptions and avian influenza outbreaks.

While prices have stabilized, the spike provided clear insight into the interconnected relationship between global events, food costs, household budgets and consumer perceptions of affordability. And with 62% of Americans saying cost is “extremely or very important” when deciding what food to buy, these fluctuations have a visible effect on what goes on America’s kitchen table.

However, food is not the greatest expense Americans face. Housing costs the average household 2.58 times as much as food, with a spend of $26,266 per year (or over 30% of its annual expenditure) on accommodation. Rising rent prices, higher mortgage rates and elevated property taxes are driving up housing costs, with a recent study finding that housing costs for the average American household have risen by more than 33% since 2019.

How much Gen Z and Millennials spend on food compared to their parents.

Next up, we looked at how spending habits differ across generations, focusing on how much different age groups spend on food.

We found that Millennials and members of Gen Z spend a larger share of their budgets on food than their parents and grandparents. Millennials spend 13.3% and Gen Z spends 13.9%, against an all-generations average of 12.9%.

However, Millennials and Gen X both spend more on personal insurance and pensions than on food, with food being only their fourth-largest expense. For Gen Z, food is the third top cost after housing and transportation — and indeed, Gen Z spends a greater percentage of its budget on transportation (18.4%) than any other generation.

Gen Z spends a bigger part of their budget on fast food than any other generation.

Next, we analyzed how much the five generations of Americans spend on eating at home and eating out. This is where our data shows a significant generational shift in attitudes toward fast food and convenience culture.

Our analysis shows that younger generations allocate more money to food and nonalcoholic drinks from fast-food restaurants than their older counterparts: Gen Z spends 23.3%, Millennials 19.6% and Gen Xers 17.4%. This is higher than the share of the budget spent by Baby Boomers (13.2%) and members of the Silent Generation (11.4%).

This suggests that fast food and convenience eating have become ingrained in everyday American life, driven by changing consumer habits and widespread adoption of delivery apps. Additionally, younger Americans are working longer and more irregular hours, making takeout and deliveries more likely.

A recent 2025 YouGov survey found that 28.2% of Americans use food delivery apps at least once a week, while nearly 40% of Gen Z and Millennials report using them weekly. Additionally, the National Restaurant Association found in 2025 that 60% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers were ordering takeout more often than the previous year.

The average American household spends $1,414 on meat.

U.S. consumers eat one of the highest amounts of meat per capita each year, according to data from The Journal of Nutrition. We found that the average American household’s meat expenditure is $1,414 per year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

From this total, Americans spend the most on chicken ($214) and ground beef ($153). Few things are more all-American than a hot dog, but Americans spend only around $25 per year on frankfurters.

Looking at the data by age demographics reveals that meat remains a central part of many Americans’ diets, with beef and ham expenditures relatively consistent across generations.

However, younger people have developed a much stronger taste for chicken. Both Millennials and Gen Z spend more on chicken than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation. Gen Z stands out as the biggest spender of all; almost 20% of its meat budget goes to chicken. This may be down to chicken being cheaper and more widely available, especially in fast-food and takeout orders. It’s also generally perceived as leaner, healthier and more protein-dense, offering greater value for money than red meat.

The Silent Generation has America’s biggest bread habit.

The next chart shows how much Americans are spending on cereal and bakery products. Our analysis shows that bread is the biggest expense in this section.

On average, Americans spend $132 per year on bread and $101 per year on cereal and breakfast bars. From its late 19th-century origins with the Kellogg brothers, flaked cereal has evolved into a staple of the American breakfast table and a multi-billion-dollar industry that continues to dominate supermarket shelves today.

Looking at generational shifts, we did find a slight downward trend in bread consumption. The Silent Generation spends 19.1% of its food budget on bread compared with 17.4% for Gen Z.

But it’s Millennials who continue to spend the least on bread at 15.7%. These are members of the generation exposed to the rise of low-carb diets, going keto and a growing understanding of conditions that involve gluten intolerance. They were also the first people to hear negative messaging coming out of the diet and fitness industry, which often labeled bread as fattening, unhealthy and ultra-processed.

Americans spend over one-third of their dairy budget on cheese.

The average American household spends $631 per year on dairy products. Breaking that down, we found that cheese is the biggest expense: At an annual cost of $201, it accounts for around a third of the average American dairy budget.

Fresh milk, a daily essential for many Americans, costs households a significant $141 annually.

Looking at the data by generation, we found that spending on cheese remained fairly consistent across different age groups. Baby Boomers, Millennials and members of Gen X all spend around 32% of their dairy budget on cheese.

One of the biggest differences is in ice cream spending between the Silent Generation and Millennials. Those born before 1946 allocate 18.8% of their dairy expenditure to ice cream products, while the same figure for Millennials is just 13%. Expenditure on butter decreases along generational lines, with the Silent Generation spending the most and Gen Z spending the least.

The Silent Generation continues to spend more on canned fruit and vegetables.

The average American household spends $953 on fruit and vegetables per year, with the majority of this budget going towards fresh fruit ($240) and fresh veggies ($224).

This suggests a strong health-conscious approach, as people prioritize fresh produce over canned and processed alternatives. In fact, the average American spends only $73 per year on canned fruits and vegetables.

Spending on fresh fruits is remarkably consistent across the generations, with little to no difference in how much the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers and Gen Z spend in this category. These groups also spend almost identical amounts on specific fruits, including bananas.

The biggest downward trend we found here was in the canned fruit and vegetable section. The Silent Generation spends the most at 9.5%. For the Silent Generation, which grew up with less access to refrigeration and fresh produce, canned goods were cheap, accessible and long-lasting.

Cola is no longer the “Choice of a New Generation.”

American households spend an average of $714 on nonalcoholic drinks every year. The largest share of that ($257) goes toward nonfrozen, noncarbonated juices and drinks, with another $152 covering the cost of carbonated drinks such as soda. Americans also spend $137 a year to fuel their daily coffee cravings.

Spending on tea remains fairly level across the demographic data. Four of the groups spend around 7% of their beverage budget on tea; only Gen Z spends less, at 5%.

Cola is no longer the go-to soda for the younger generation. Less than 10% of the money Gen Z spends on drinks goes on cola. The largest consumers of this iconic American drink, by share of their overall spending, are Baby Boomers, who grew up during the peak era of Coca-Cola and Pepsi’s rise to popular culture. Moreover, older generations were not subject to the same anti-sugar campaigns, obesity awareness and fitness and wellness culture as they grew up.

The average household spends $719 on snacks.

Potato chips account for the largest share of Americans’ snack spending, with an annual spend of $214 per household. Of the overall $719 cost of snacks, $162 is spent on candy and chewing gum, $89 on cookies and $67 on nuts for those who want a slightly healthier snack.

The percentage of spending on potato chips increases among younger consumers, peaking at 31.5% for Gen Z — almost 10 percentage points higher than the Silent Generation. Conversely, Millennials and Gen Z also spend less on candy than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation.

Older generations spend more on nuts, despite the trend of younger generations becoming more health-conscious in their approach to food and sugar intake. However, nuts, especially organic varieties, are relatively expensive when compared with other snack market options for health-conscious consumers, such as protein bars.

Three easy ways to manage your food budget.

Everyday food purchases will add up over the course of a year, and building up your savings often begins with a few small habit changes.

1. Try cooking at home as often as possible.

Making meals from scratch and bringing your lunch to work takes more time and effort, but they are still among the best ways to stretch your monthly food budget.

Tip: Check out the MealPrepSunday subreddit to find inspiration for freezable dishes, big-batch family meals and easy lunches you can prepare ahead of the week.

2. Consider cutting back on takeout coffee.

Coffee can be expensive. U.S. customers now pay around $5.95 for a Grande Starbucks latte, for example, and that’s before any add-ons or in-store impulse purchases. That means a daily latte adds up to an annual cost of more than $2,100.

Tip: If dropping the habit is not an option, try switching to a takeout coffee every other day — a small habit change that could potentially save hundreds of dollars each year.

3. Keep track of your spending.

Most of us underestimate how much we spend on snacks, takeout and treats. Using a spending tracker to accurately calculate your weekly and monthly spending can help you see just how much money goes toward unnecessary purchases. For many people, this can be an excellent motivator to build up their savings.

Tip: Use our monthly budget calculator to plan your household spending. Just enter your income and outgoings to see where you might be able to cut back in order to build up some savings each month.

4. Opt for budget-friendly restaurants.

Good food doesn’t have to be expensive. Find restaurants that offer both quality and affordability.

Tip: Use Google Maps to find nearby eateries and filter the results by price and rating to discover affordable new places to eat.

Methodology

We used historical data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2024 Consumer Expenditure Survey to calculate how much money Americans spend on food. We converted each household’s average spending into percentages before segmenting by age and comparing the spending habits of the last five generations of Americans.

All figures refer to total household expenditure. The BLS defines the generation of a household by the generation of the reference person in the household, which is usually the “person or one of the persons who owns or rents the home.”

All data is correct as of May 2026.

DISCLAIMER: This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax or legal advice.