Dining out is a major part of the U.S. food economy. Recent figures show household spending on food away from home recovering from the 2020 disruption, reaching a new high in 2024, while restaurant prices and sales continued to rise at different rates.
Table of contents
- Household spending on dining out
- Dining out in the food budget
- Restaurant prices and real spending
- The national scale of food away from home
- Where dining-out dollars go
- Food-service sales during 2024
Household spending on dining out
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measures spending by the average consumer unit, a household-based measure used in its Consumer Expenditures reports. Its food-away-from-home category covers spending outside the home, including restaurant meals and similar purchases. The figures below are nominal dollars for the stated year, so they are not adjusted for inflation.
Average annual spending on food away from home was $3,030 in 2021, according to Consumer expenditures in 2024. It rose to $3,639 in 2022 and then to $3,933 in 2023. In 2024, the average reached $3,945.
The year-to-year pattern changed as the recovery matured. Average food-away-from-home spending increased 20.1% from 2021 to 2022 and 8.1% from 2022 to 2023. The increase was only 0.3% from 2023 to 2024. In dollar terms, the latest annual change was $12 per consumer unit.
| Year | Average food-away-from-home spending | Share of average consumer-unit spending |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $3,030 | 4.5% |
| 2022 | $3,639 | 5.0% |
| 2023 | $3,933 | 5.1% |
| 2024 | $3,945 | 5.0% |
The longer BLS series places the recent figures in context. Average food-away-from-home spending was $3,526 in 2019, before falling to $2,375 in 2020. It then rose from $2,375 in 2020 to $3,030 in 2021. These measurements describe the spending of the average consumer unit; they are not a restaurant-industry revenue total.
Dining out in the food budget
Food away from home represented 4.5% of average consumer-unit spending in 2021, according to the BLS. The proportion increased to 5.0% in 2022 and 5.1% in 2023 before standing at 5.0% in 2024. The share therefore remained close to one-twentieth of total average consumer-unit spending during the latest three years.
A separate USDA measure looks at the national food budget rather than the average consumer unit. The USDA Economic Research Service reported that food away from home represented 58.5% of U.S. food spending in 2023, the highest share in its series since the 1930s. This is a share of total food spending, so it should not be compared directly with the BLS percentage of all consumer-unit spending.
The USDA reported U.S. food-away-from-home spending of $4,004 per person in 2022 and $4,485 per person in 2023. It also reported that food away from home took 5.6% of U.S. disposable personal income in 2022 and 5.9% in 2023. In 2023, consumers spent 11.2% of disposable personal income on all food, including food at home and food away from home.
These measures describe different denominators, which matters when reading dining out statistics. The BLS figures track average consumer-unit spending. The USDA per-person figures track national spending per person. The USDA food-budget share compares food away from home with all food spending, while the disposable-income share compares it with disposable personal income.
Restaurant prices and real spending
Price changes explain part of the increase in nominal dining-out spending. Average U.S. food-away-from-home prices rose 7.6% in 2022, 7.1% in 2023, and 4.1% in 2024, according to the USDA Economic Research Service’s food spending and inflation chart.
The same source reported that real U.S. food-away-from-home spending, after adjusting for inflation, grew 3.0% in 2023 and 0.4% in 2024. The contrast is important: nominal spending can rise because prices are higher, while real spending is intended to show the change after removing the price effect.
For the first seven months of 2024, the USDA reported average food-away-from-home price growth of 4.3% and average real spending growth of 0.9%. Those figures cover January through July 2024, not the full calendar year.
The BLS reported that the $12 increase in average household food-away-from-home spending from 2023 to 2024 occurred alongside a 4.1% increase in food-away-from-home prices. This combination helps explain why the latest nominal household spending figure was nearly flat even as the category’s price level continued to rise. The figures are descriptive of U.S. averages and do not indicate what any individual bistro or customer paid.
The national scale of food away from home
At the national level, the USDA Economic Research Service reported that U.S. consumers spent $1.27 trillion on food away from home in 2024. That total increased 4.2% from 2023 to 2024. By comparison, U.S. food-at-home spending was $901 billion in 2024 and increased 1.4% from 2023 to 2024.
The contrast shows the scale of restaurant and other food-away-from-home purchases relative to groceries and other food consumed at home. It does not mean every food-away-from-home purchase was a sit-down restaurant meal; the category is broader than bistro dining alone.
The USDA’s Food Dollar analysis also reported $836.8 billion in food-services value added in 2024. That was up 5.9% from $790.0 billion in 2023. Food services supplied 38.6 cents of value added per 2024 U.S. food dollar, and the food-services share of the food dollar increased by 1.1 cents from 2023 to 2024.
| 2024 measure | Reported amount or share |
|---|---|
| Food away from home spending | $1.27 trillion |
| Food at home spending | $901 billion |
| Food-services value added | $836.8 billion |
| Food-services value added per food dollar | 38.6 cents |
Value added is an economic measure of the contribution made by an industry group; it is not the same as total consumer spending. Keeping those concepts separate prevents a national spending figure from being treated as a restaurant industry’s exact sales total.
Where dining-out dollars go
The USDA reported that labor accounted for 59.1 cents of each food-away-from-home dollar in 2024. Labor accounted for 47.1 cents of each food-at-home dollar, making the labor share 12.0 cents higher for food away from home than for food at home.
Within the food-services industry group, 65.8 cents of each food-away-from-home dollar represented value added in 2024. Labor represented 44.2 cents of those 65.8 cents of food-services value added. These are shares of the relevant food dollar or value-added measure, not a restaurant’s menu-price breakdown for a single meal.
Across the full domestic food system, workers received $1.17 trillion in wages and benefits in 2024, equal to 54.1 cents per food dollar. The comparable 2023 figures were $1.10 trillion and 52.0 cents per food dollar. The USDA also reported domestic food-system property income of $710 billion in 2024, compared with $726 billion in 2023.
Output taxes represented 7.2 cents per domestic food dollar in 2024, down from 7.7 cents in 2023. Together, these figures illustrate that a food dollar passes through several parts of the domestic food system. The food-services labor share is specifically tied to food away from home, while wages, benefits, property income, and output taxes in the broader measures cover the full domestic food system.
Food-service sales during 2024
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, August 2024 reported $760,748 million in food-services and drinking-places sales for the first eight months of 2024. That total was up 5.3% from the comparable January-through-August period of 2023.
Monthly sales varied within that period. Food-services and drinking-places sales were $94,364 million in January 2024 and $94,554 million in February. March sales were $94,510 million, followed by $94,569 million in April and $94,076 million in May. June sales were $97,195 million, July sales were $96,729 million, and August sales were $98,857 million.
| Month or period | Food-services and drinking-places sales |
|---|---|
| January 2024 | $94,364 million |
| February 2024 | $94,554 million |
| March 2024 | $94,510 million |
| April 2024 | $94,569 million |
| May 2024 | $94,076 million |
| June 2024 | $97,195 million |
| July 2024 | $96,729 million |
| August 2024 | $98,857 million |
| January–August 2024 | $760,748 million |
These Census figures are sales for the food-services and drinking-places category, while the USDA figures describe food-away-from-home spending and food-dollar relationships. The categories overlap in subject but are not identical statistical measures. The Census result is also an advance estimate for the stated reporting period, so it should be read as a timely sales indicator rather than as a complete annual restaurant total.