Having had the opportunity to live all over the country, we've noticed obvious trends in the eating habits of the residents in whatever city we're in at the time. Some cities love their restaurants. Others spend the majority of their budget on ingredients and cook at home. See how this breaks down for your town!
The Consumerist recently reported on Bundle's number crunching when it comes to food consumption around the country. Not only did they check in on how much money was being spent on food, but they also noted whether it was being spent at restaurants or at local grocers.
At the bottom of the list are cities like Detroit, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Tulsa. They're spending the least amount of cash on food and very, very little on eating out (in comparison to other cities). The top of the list is being held down by Austin, Nashville and San Francisco.
Checking out the breakdown between how money is spent is quite fascinating. Where does your city rank on the list? You can even check out the age group breakdown and household income!
• See the infographic pertaining to geographical location here
• See the breakdown by age group, income and household here
• Related: Could You Eat on $25 a Week?
(via: Bundle via The Consumerist)
(Image: Bundle)
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Comments (11)
Do you know if they control for regional price differences? For example, my husband and I could go to the grocery where we live in the Bay Area, load up on exactly the same foods that my parents buy in Cleveland on the same day and we would pay somewhere between 5-10% more than them. And if the totals include alcoholic drinks... I can buy a few rounds for my friends whenever I'm visiting Ohio for less than my household's usual drinks budget (and we don't drink a whole lot). I guess the chart is interesting if each data point is left to stand on its own, but without some sort of zeroing mechanism, it's fairly worthless as a comparison tool.
Chicago currently has the highest sales tax of all major US cities.
I'm not one to pinch pennies, but if I stock up on groceries in a suburb instead of the city, the difference is kind of staggering.
Very cool.
I wonder if they adjusted for sales tax. We don't have sales tax in Oregon, which may have an effect on how much we spend here. Interesting article. I wonder also if they factored in money spent at farmers markets.
I wonder about the influence of location and sales tax too.
And also, with Detroit - is it because of the unemployment rate that they're spending is so much less?
Wow - I'm surprised Reno is as high up as it is...!
I'd be curious to see this kind of data for Australia. Sydney
always finds itself in the top 10 most expensive cities in the world and I can't help but think that, outside rent, food is the biggest factor.
I'd also like to see food costs compared (rather than food spending).
@ akay - I have a similar experience. If I shop somewhere more suburban (in exactly the same supermarket), I seem to save a lot of money. It's nuts.
Living in manhattan prices are insane!
@ akay
I no longer live in Chicago (moved last year), but as I recall food was not taxed. That was why grocery shopping was the one thing I did not mind doing within city limits.
Do they factor in food stamps and count that as cash?
Wow! I can't believe Austin (my hometown) is #1 - very shocking. Okay, we like to eat out a lot, and with all those delicious Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants around, why would I want to bother with my inevitably inauthentic version? Still, shocked that even looking at Manhattan by itself, we'd only be $1K behind per year. They always portray New Yorkers as using their ovens for storage in the movies :)