The percentage of disposable personal income Americans spent on food in 1935: 24.2 percent

The percentage of disposable personal income Americans spent on food in 2005: 9.9 percent

The percentage of disposable personal income Americans spent on food in 2022: 11.3 percent

Editor’s Note:

Consumers spent 5.62 percent of their incomes on food at supermarkets, convenience stores, warehouse club stores, supercenters, and other retailers in 2022 and 5.64 percent on food at restaurants, fast-food establishments, schools, and other places offering food away from home. In 2022, the share spent on total food had the sharpest annual increase, 12.7 percent. This followed an 8.2-percent decline, the sharpest annual drop in total food spending since 1967, during the first year of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

The recent volatility in spending was driven by consumers’ sudden drop in eating out at the beginning of the pandemic followed by a return to food-away-from-home purchases as pandemic-related restrictions and concerns eased.