Cooking at Home Is Cheaper Than Dining Out: 2024 BLS Data
Written and checked with AI using the references below. This is not human expert review.
Quick answer
Cooking at home costs US households far less per meal. In 2024, spending averaged $6,224 on groceries versus $3,945 dining out. Total food spending took up 12.9 percent of the typical household budget. Making meals at home gives people more food for each dollar spent.
Official Spending Benchmarks for Groceries and Dining Out
Grocery shopping takes up the biggest part of a household food budget. Buying food at stores also provides most of your weekly nutrition. Official federal expenditure data is government research that tracks this household spending. In 2024, average food spending reached $10,169 across roughly 135,760 thousand US consumer units. A consumer unit is a household that shares living costs. These numbers come from surveys by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS. This total food spend represented 12.9 percent of total annual household expenditures, which averaged $78,535 across all categories.
The benchmark data divides food spending into two main buckets: food at home (groceries) and food away from home (restaurants, takeout, and catering). In 2024, households spent an average of $6,224 on groceries and $3,945 on dining out. For added context, households also spent an average of $643 on alcoholic beverages, representing 0.8 percent of annual spending.
Examining the multi-year trajectory from 2022 to 2024 reveals how spending shifted during recent economic changes. Grocery spending climbed steadily over this time. At the same time, dining out spending stayed flat in 2024. People spent less on restaurants as their budgets tightened.
| Spending Category | 2022 Outlay | 2023 Outlay | 2024 Outlay | 2023 to 2024 Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food at home (groceries) | $5,703 | $6,053 | $6,224 | 2.8% |
| Food away from home (dining out) | $3,639 | $3,933 | $3,945 | 0.3% |
| Total food expenditures | $9,343 | $9,985 | $10,169 | 1.8% |
| Average annual spending (all categories) | $72,973 | $77,158 | $78,535 | 1.8% |
Between 2022 and 2023, spending on food away from home grew rapidly by 8.1 percent, and groceries grew by 6.1 percent. In 2024, however, dining out expenditures grew by only 0.3 percent. Grocery spending grew by 2.8 percent in the same year. This showed that consumers kept putting essential dollars into cooking at home. At the same time, they curbed their restaurant visits.
Scenario 1: The Multi-Person Household Managing a Tight Food Budget
Home cooking saves a family or multi-person household a lot of cash. Eating out costs more because of restaurant markups. A restaurant markup is an extra charge that multiplies with each added family member. When feeding multiple people, purchasing food ingredients in bulk yields immediate cost savings at the grocery checkout.
You need to manage your grocery spending effectively. To do this, you must understand how your grocery dollars divide. Track how your money splits across specific supermarket aisles. BLS data tracks spending across five major at-home food categories. In 2024, the average household distributed its $6,224 grocery outlay across these specific food groups:
- Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs: $1,414 per year. This category jumped 21.5 percent between 2023 and 2024, up from $1,164, making protein the fastest-rising grocery line item.
- Fruits and vegetables: $953 per year. Spending on fresh and processed produce declined 3.5 percent from $988 in 2023.
- Cereals and bakery products: $779 per year. Bakery staples dropped 6.1 percent from $830 in 2023.
- Dairy products: $631 per year. Dairy increased 4.8 percent from $602 in 2023.
- Other food at home: $2,447 per year. This diverse category includes cooking oils, snacks, condiments, and non-alcoholic beverages, edging down 0.9 percent from $2,469 in 2023.
Food spending pressures fall unevenly across different income levels. The BLS tracks expenditures across five earning groups called income quintiles. Average annual spending ranged from $35,046 for consumer units in the lowest quintile to $150,342 in the highest. A consumer unit is the government term for a household. Because lower-income households spend a far greater share of their total budget on basic food, dining out carries a much heavier financial penalty for them. Diverting restaurant dollars into grocery staples protects cash flow and provides room for building an emergency fund.
Scenario 2: The Solo Diner Balancing Time and Food Waste
For a single person living alone, cooking at home is still cheaper than dining out, but the financial margin narrows due to food waste and packaging sizes. Grocery stores price bulk quantities lower per ounce, which benefits families but creates challenges for single shoppers.
When a solo diner buys fresh produce, dairy, or meats, unused portions frequently spoil before consumption. Discarded food directly increases the actual cash cost per edible meal. A solo cook might throw away one-third of the groceries they buy. This food waste causes their effective grocery spending to jump substantially. This higher cost narrows the savings gap between home cooking and low-cost prepared dining.
Solo diners must also account for labor and opportunity cost. Planning meals, shopping, cooking, and cleaning up takes time. Cleaning up the kitchen takes extra personal time. This includes choices like washing dishes by hand or using a dishwasher. Eating at a restaurant or ordering takeout eliminates that cleanup work.
To maintain a financial advantage, solo diners must use targeted kitchen practices:
- Plan recipes around shelf-stable staples like rice, dried beans, pasta, and frozen vegetables.
- Cook multiple portions at once and freeze single-serving leftovers to prevent waste.
- Repurpose your primary protein ingredients across multiple dishes. A primary protein ingredient is the main protein food in a meal. You can use that same protein across several consecutive meals.
- Avoid buying specialty ingredients in large containers for a single recipe.
Scenario 3: An Illustrative Model of Per-Meal Cost and Break-Even Points
The BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey tracks annual dollar amounts, but it does not count individual meals or calculate empirical per-meal price benchmarks. You can use an illustrative model to evaluate practical daily choices. This tool translates aggregate spending into meal equivalents. That simply means turning total spending into estimated prices for single meals.
Consider an illustrative model of a two-person household consuming 21 meals per week per person, or 2,184 total meals annually. Suppose this household eats 1,500 of those meals at home and dines out for the remaining 684 meals, matching the typical balance of home groceries and outside dining.
Illustrative Per-Meal Spending Comparison:
- Home grocery meal: Dividing annual grocery spending of $6,224 by 1,500 home meals yields an illustrative cost of approximately $4.15 per person per meal.
- Dining-out meal: Dividing annual restaurant spending of $3,945 by 200 full sit-down meals yields an illustrative cost of approximately $19.73 per person per meal.
- Illustrative cost gap: Cooking at home saves roughly $15.58 per person for every restaurant meal replaced.
You can use this illustrative difference to perform a break-even calculation on kitchen investments. Suppose you spend $300 upfront on high-quality cookware, knives, and food storage containers to enable home cooking. Using the standard formula where break-even equals upfront cost difference divided by recurring savings per unit:
Break-even meals = $300 upfront investment ÷ $15.58 operational savings per meal = 19.3 meals.
In this illustrative scenario, you prepare just 20 home-cooked meals instead of ordering restaurant meals. Doing this fully recoups the equipment investment. Recouping an investment means you earn back the money you spent. After that point, every home meal delivers pure cash savings.
Shared Budgeting Principles: Total Cost of Ownership and Hidden Expenses
Evaluating the true cost of cooking versus dining out requires looking at total cost of ownership rather than raw grocery receipts alone. A widespread misconception is that the lowest purchase price is always the cheapest option overall. For instance, purchasing a single value item from a fast-food drive-through may seem cheaper than buying a fifteen-dollar grocery basket. However, that grocery basket often yields four to six nutritious meals, making its cost per ounce far lower than prepared food.
When comparing food choices, evaluate these recurring operational expenses and commercial factors:
- Operating utility costs: Cooking at home uses energy to run an electric or gas stove and preheat an oven. Running a standard refrigerator also takes electricity. These appliances add small recurring utility costs, which are power and gas bills.
- Kitchen consumables: Dishwashing detergents, cooking oils, parchment paper, and cleaning sponges add small recurring outlays to grocery totals.
- Commercial sales bias: Meal delivery kits, third-party delivery apps, and fast-casual restaurant chains frequently market cost studies claiming their food rivals home cooking. Commercial food companies have a direct sales interest. They want to encourage consumers to outsource their food preparation. Outsourcing food simply means paying outside businesses to make your meals.
- Everyday budget tracking: Look at your grocery bills beside other household choices. You can review everyday cost comparisons to see where your money goes. Keep an eye on your whole budget, too. Work to manage your general everyday household expenses each month. Doing this helps your kitchen habits support your broad financial goals.
How to interpret your results: If your household food costs exceed 15 percent of your total annual spending, check your ratio of dining out to grocery shopping. Shifting two restaurant meals per week to home cooking can return hundreds of dollars to your monthly cash flow. Reach out to local non-profit food assistance programs if you face emergency cash shortages or severe food insecurity. Severe food insecurity means a household lacks steady access to enough food. You can also contact a certified financial counselor for structured guidance.
Frequently asked questions
How much did grocery and restaurant spending change between 2023 and 2024?
According to the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, grocery spending grew by 2.8 percent from $6,053 in 2023 to $6,224 in 2024. In contrast, dining-out expenditures flattened, increasing by just 0.3 percent from $3,933 in 2023 to $3,945 in 2024.
Which grocery categories saw the largest price increases in 2024?
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs experienced the largest increase among tracked at-home food categories in 2024, surging 21.5 percent to $1,414. Dairy products rose 4.8 percent to $631, while bakery products and produce categories saw spending declines.
Why does official government spending data omit the exact cost per meal?
The BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey records aggregate household cash outlays and spending shares, but it does not track the number of meals consumed or portion sizes. Per-meal comparisons must be calculated using illustrative models based on household size and meal frequency.
How does income level influence how much households spend on food?
In 2024, average annual expenditures across all categories ranged from $35,046 for the lowest income quintile to $150,342 for the highest quintile. Because food represents a much larger share of basic living costs for lower-income households, home cooking is especially critical for their budgets.
Sources
- Consumer Expenditures--2024 - 2024 A01 Results · Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov)
Written by AI; checked through automated evidence and editorial review. References retrieved October 12, 2026.
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