The Economic Research Service recently analyzed food sales trends at the state level and found a wide variation in the results. U.S. per capita food sales reached $7,102 in 2023.
The biggest variation took place between Food at Home and Food Away From Home. Nationally, about 45 percent, or $3,179, of food purchases went toward food at home. Per capita food at home ranged from a low of $2,503 in West Virginia to a high of $4,157 in Alaska. Higher per capita food-at-home sales were typically concentrated in the Northwestern and Mountain West States, as Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Utah rounded out the top five. Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and Oklahoma followed West Virginia with the lowest per capita FAH sales in 2023.
Per capita, food away from home purchases in 2023 were higher nationally than any year on record at $3,923. Washington, D.C., had the highest total FAFH at $10,644.
