Nebraskans’ Food Spending Below Average

Nebraskans are below average when it comes to spending on food-at-home. Nebraskans spent $3,078 per person in 2023 while Americans overall averaged $3,179 according to the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) state-level estimates of food spending. Food-at-home spending ranged from $2,503 per person in West Virginia to $4,157 in Alaska (Figure 3). States in the Northwest and Mountain West generally had higher food-at-home spending while West Virginia, Illinois, and Minnesota spent the least per person.

Nebraskans' spending on food-away-from-home, $3,229 per person, was also lower than the national average, $3,923, the highest national average on record. Washington, D.C., Nevada, and Hawaii-all tourist states-had the highest per capita food-away-from-home purchases. Once again, West Virginia was the lowest followed by Iowa and Wisconsin. Nationally, about 45 percent of food purchases were for food-at-home while Nebraskan's spending for food-at-home was almost 49 percent of all purchases.

FIGURE 3. PER CAPITA SPENDING ON FOOD-AT-HOME, 2023

Source: USDA Economic Research Service

FIGURE 4. PER CAPITA SPENDING ON FOOD-AWAY-FROM-HOME, 2023

Source: USDA Economic Research Service

Combined, spending on food-at-home and food-away-from-home grew 40 percent nationally between 2020-2023. Nebraskans experienced a smaller increase of 29 percent. Part of the increase is due to consumers buying greater quantities of food, but inflation also contributed. Higher food prices are one reason consumers are still grumpy about inflation. The most recent data shows prices for food-at-home up just 1.1 percent over the past 12 months. Prices for food-away-from-home, though, are up 4.1 percent. The divergence could mean a shift by consumers towards more purchases at grocery stores and less dining out.