How much more (or less) money do you spend on groceries than you do on dining out? How does it compare to how others spend? Bundle, a new online destination that aims to describe how we spend money, takes a look at the grocery-dining out breakdown in major cities. The average household in Austin spends the most money on food per year, period. Atlanta has the highest skew towards spending on dining out at 57%. The US average is 37%.
Make More, Spend More
Of course, before you jump to any conclusions about what city has the fattest citizens, there are plenty of other factors to consider like cost of living or how fit a city is as a whole. Maybe a city just happens to exercise a lot (so they eat more to compensate for lost calories) and the cost of living is high (so meals are more expensive). Put that aside for a second though, and there is one simple truth: “The more we spend, the more we like caviar.”
The data reflects, generally, what we already suspect about our own behavior: How much we spend on food — like how much we spend on anything — is most directly a result of how much money we have. People making $40,000 to $50,000 spent $5,560 on food in 2009. People making more than $125,000 spent $12,655 — more than double. Did they buy twice as much food? Not likely, says Hayden Stewart, an economist at the US Department of Agriculture: they buy more expensive food. “Better cuts of meat, more organic foods, more gourmet or prepared foods — they all cost more, and when people have the money, they’re often willing to pay.”
Conversely, this would explain why Detroit, who we know has had economic hardships lately, is at the very bottom. You can’t spend money you don’t have.
Read more about the analysis and methodology here.
Where does your city rank?
Pingback: You Must Be Hungry: Spending on food and drink (infographic) | zubeta.com
Pingback: Bundle e o dinheiro descomplicado « Notícias visuais
seems to me a ratio would be more informative, and a much better comparison
I think I agree with andy. It’s a neat-looking plot, to be sure, and I like the idea. But I kept trying to use the two vertical lines as tick marks, or points of comparison between the “dine out” and “groceries” side — but they’re not spaced equally from the center, and their meaning isn’t labeled (at least that I can discern) so I’m just distracted.
the vertical lines are the US average, for dining out on the right and groceries on the left.
had they gone with ratio, you wouldn’t be able to compare dining out individually anymore. Same goes for groceries. so while ratio would’ve been useful i think this is too. could go either way, really. for the purpose of the accompanying article though, i think this was the way to go.
Aha, thank you, Nathan. It’s very helpful to know that’s the U.S. average. Now that I re-read the article, I can connect references to average to those lines — but I’m not sure I would have intuited that myself, without your identifying it.
i didn’t see it at first either. it probably would’ve been better to stick US average on the top instead of ordering it with the cities. that way you’d have a point of reference right off the bat.
Pingback: Bookmarks for May 12th through May 13th | The Stuyvesant Organization
Gosh, it’s hard to read. :(
Took me several minutes to get at least something out of it.
Lose the callouts covering up the data, especially since they are duplicated in the article. And the tick marks thing should be clearer: maybe emphasize the US Average bar with color? All that blue is somewhat oppressive. Other than that, I liked it.
i agree. the callouts seem more fit for an interactive version.
Really? Arlington, VA is #2??? It’s an expensive place to live, but #2?
Pingback: Foodista Blog - Friday Fun Links
you go, los angeles! those $15 margaritas do add up…
Dude that is way cool i like it.
Lou
http://www.total-anonymity.se.tc
So.. if we assume 2.57 people per household, then americans on average spend $49 a week per person? Seems kinda low…
What is the source of this data? It seems bogus.
I clicked on the link “Read more about the analysis and methodology here,” but there is really nothing more about the sources of the data there. Perhaps there is some paid report with more details, but what is clear is that this data does not jibe with Dept of Agriculture figures.
It is senseless to create fancy graphics and undertake any analysis with this unsubstantiated data.
@tanstaafl – this link on where the bundle data comes from should be helpful:
http://www.bundle.com/article/data-deeper-dive-methodology-Bundles-spending-data-9111
Pingback: EquityBlog » Blog Archive » What do we spend on food?
Why are some bars fat and some thin? I’ve searched for an answer and cannot find one. The choices seem to show us something other than the data.
height is city population.
Ah! That makes a lot of sense – thanks!
Pingback: gogoraleigh.com» Blog Archive » Raleigh Ranks 4th in Food Spending
You missed a note for Austin’s superhigh grocery bill: it’s the home of Whole Foods
“AUSTIN, Texas – With the state facing a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has spent almost $600,000 in public money during the past two years to live in a sprawling rental home in the hills above the capital, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.
It costs more than $10,000 a month in rent, utilities and upkeep to house Perry in a five-bedroom, seven-bath mansion that has pecan-wood floors, a gourmet kitchen and three dining rooms. Perry has also spent $130,000 in campaign donations to throw parties, buy food and drink, and pay for cable TV and a host of other services since he moved in, the records show.”
AUSTIN, Texas – With the state facing a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has spent almost $600,000 in public money during the past two years to live in a sprawling rental home in the hills above the capital, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.
It costs more than $10,000 a month in rent, utilities and upkeep to house Perry in a five-bedroom, seven-bath mansion that has pecan-wood floors, a gourmet kitchen and three dining rooms. Perry has also spent $130,000 in campaign donations to throw parties, buy food and drink, and pay for cable TV and a host of other services since he moved in, the records show.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100517/ap_on_re_us/us_texas_governor_temporary_mansion
Looks like it starts right at the top of the food chain in Austin. Or did Perry’s expeditures tip the scale? Is the gourmet kitchen included in the eat-in or take-out catagory? One would need a place to heat up catered food and also a working ice maker to make mixed drinks.
Pingback: Where Americans Spend Money On Food And Drink - All The Misc
Pingback: 5-17-2010 The Day in Review | F i a t Lux
Would like to see European and Asian cities included in this as well – to keep it as an apples to apples comparison, % of Average Household income could be used in place of real dollars.
Pingback: Which American City Spends the Most on Food and Drink? | New City Travel
Pingback: Where Americans Spend Money On Food And Drink – The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan « Firesaw
Pingback: A Green Arms Race? - Idea of the Day Blog - NYTimes.com
Another comment is that grocery prices vary considerably throughout the country. $4K in New York City buys considerably less than $4K in San Antonio, for example. We would need to take this into account when comparing grocery expenditures between cities. The same thing is true on a smaller scale for restaurant pricing (e.g. San Antonio is considerably less than NYC). I wonder if grocery prices and restaurant prices are highly correlated (probably so). If not, you could misread some of these charts.
Pingback: What America spends on food and drink | InfoGraphicsFyi
Pingback: Links 5/21/10 « Johnsenclan
It’s based on credit and debit card data; cash transactions aren’t included. This will introduce tons of bias, I suspect, particularly in comparing dining out with grocery spending.
Pingback: Poll: Do You Spend too Much on Food? | Community Health Now
Pingback: Your Health Centers » Blog Archive » Poll: Do You Spend too Much on Food?
What years were the pop data and dining data taken from? The population of Austin MSA has gron from 1.25 million in 2000 to 1.7 million in 2009. Depending on where you’re getting your data, that’s a big change in the denominator.
Dang it, now every time I want to eat at Torchy’s, all I’ll be able to think about will be this chart!
I was on vacation, so I am late to this one, but I found it interesting and had to comment.
The data sources for this infographic are cloudy and the methods are hidden. Yawn.
I find this interesting, b/c my Master’s project analyzed retail opportunities in Detroit. As part of the analysis we conducted an analysis at the city level examining the demand (using expected consumer expenditures by income level) and supply (using sales from the Economic Census).
Our results indicated that on average Detroiters spend 50 cents of every dollar outside Detroit. Since the methods of bundle are not clear, it is impossible to carefully criticize their calculations, but I wager that they did not sufficiently account for the spending of Detroit residents beyond 8 Mile. Also, they mention a reliance upon credit card data. This clearly will not accurately reflect the spending of poor residents.
I guess graphics trump transparent analysis. Oh well. :(
Pingback: What do we spend on food? | EquityBlog