Basic food budgets

USDA food plans price a defined food basket for specified ages and family sizes. They show a food-at-home budget, rather than what every family spends.

USDA publishes separate food plans for the mainland U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. Mainland states share one estimate.

Refine this comparison

Mainland U.S. Moderate-cost plan

$1,135

Monthly food budget for a family of four: two adults ages 19–50 and children ages 6–8 and 9–11.

per month June 2021

Data from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Plans

Change, June 2020 to June 2021

+$17.90 (+1.6%)

This food-plan series ends in June 2021. It is not a current food-budget estimate.

Changes over time

Moderate-cost plan in Mainland U.S. rose 1.6% from June 2020

per month · September 2007 to June 2021

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Plans American Default Research · americandefault.org/affordability/food-budgets/
Download data (CSV)

Available history

Moderate-cost plan
Data periodMainland U.S. (dollars)
Jun 20211,134.8
May 20211,128.2
Apr 20211,120.9
Mar 20211,112.2
Feb 20211,108.1
Jan 20211,108.9
Dec 20201,104.8
Nov 20201,100.3
Oct 20201,107.3
Sep 20201,106.4
Aug 20201,111.5
Jul 20201,110.2
Jun 20201,116.9
May 20201,114.5
Apr 20201,101.1
Mar 20201,074.1
Feb 20201,071.4
Jan 20201,072.3
Dec 20191,062.1
Nov 20191,062.7
Oct 20191,067.5
Sep 20191,060.5
Aug 20191,063.4
Jul 20191,065.2
Jun 20191,062.0
May 20191,067.5
Apr 20191,067.1
Mar 20191,069.8
Feb 20191,066.2
Jan 20191,065.3
Dec 20181,061.4
Nov 20181,054.5
Oct 20181,056.7
Sep 20181,057.1
Aug 20181,059.9
Jul 20181,056.9
Jun 20181,054.4
May 20181,054.2
Apr 20181,055.4
Mar 20181,048.2
Feb 20181,052.4
Jan 20181,056.6
Dec 20171,052.6
Nov 20171,051.8
Oct 20171,056.9
Sep 20171,053.7
Aug 20171,053.8
Jul 20171,053.3
Jun 20171,052.0
May 20171,056.5
Apr 20171,053.6
Mar 20171,047.9
Feb 20171,047.5
Jan 20171,044.6
Dec 20161,043.2
Nov 20161,046.9
Oct 20161,051.4
Sep 20161,051.5
Aug 20161,049.1
Jul 20161,050.4
Jun 20161,051.5
May 20161,055.8
Apr 20161,058.5
Mar 20161,059.3
Feb 20161,070.8
Jan 20161,071.9
Dec 20151,062.2
Nov 20151,063.9
Oct 20151,067.9
Sep 20151,066.1
Aug 20151,064.6
Jul 20151,060.0
Jun 20151,061.0
May 20151,063.8
Apr 20151,064.0
Mar 20151,062.9
Feb 20151,070.5
Jan 20151,075.7
Dec 20141,073.4
Nov 20141,067.5
Oct 20141,070.5
Sep 20141,068.3
Aug 20141,064.4
Jul 20141,064.6
Jun 20141,063.5
May 20141,065.1
Apr 20141,054.9
Mar 20141,050.6
Feb 20141,049.2
Jan 20141,047.8
Dec 20131,037.7
Nov 20131,037.7
Oct 20131,045.0
Sep 20131,041.9
Aug 20131,043.1
Jul 20131,036.1
Jun 20131,031.9
May 20131,032.4
Apr 20131,033.7
Mar 20131,035.2
Feb 20131,036.9
Jan 20131,039.5
Dec 20121,029.9
Nov 20121,023.1
Oct 20121,024.1
Sep 20121,021.5
Aug 20121,021.3
Jul 20121,023.0
Jun 20121,025.3
May 20121,021.3
Apr 20121,020.7
Mar 20121,017.8
Feb 20121,018.9
Jan 20121,024.7
Dec 20111,017.6
Nov 20111,012.6
Oct 20111,014.3
Sep 20111,013.7
Aug 20111,003.3
Jul 2011998.2
Jun 2011995.4
May 2011996.1
Apr 2011992.1
Mar 2011992.9
Feb 2011981.2
Jan 2011974.2
Dec 2010957.6
Nov 2010949.5
Oct 2010948.6
Sep 2010946.0
Aug 2010943.0
Jul 2010944.5
Jun 2010949.2
May 2010953.8
Apr 2010955.5
Mar 2010954.5
Feb 2010949.5
Jan 2010953.2
Dec 2009942.5
Nov 2009938.9
Oct 2009940.1
Sep 2009938.7
Aug 2009938.6
Jul 2009945.9
Jun 2009949.5
May 2009949.1
Apr 2009951.4
Mar 2009954.6
Feb 2009962.3
Jan 2009973.8
Dec 2008970.8
Nov 2008975.3
Oct 2008975.6
Sep 2008972.8
Aug 2008967.9
Jul 2008961.1
Jun 2008947.0
May 2008936.6
Apr 2008926.0
Mar 2008911.1
Feb 2008916.3
Jan 2008918.4
Dec 2007904.0
Nov 2007898.9
Oct 2007892.7
Sep 2007883.9

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food PlansDownload data (CSV)

Sources and method

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Plans supplies the figures shown.

U.S. Department of Agriculture food plans price defined food baskets for the household ages shown. They are food-at-home budgets, not observed spending by every family. Basket revisions remain separate.

About these figures

USDA plans are national benchmarks with separate Alaska and Hawaii schedules. Basket revisions create breaks; different household types and plan eras remain separate.

Place comparisons use the same data period. An older common period is named beside the comparison. A missing or withheld value is never changed to zero.

The CSV includes the original source notes, annotations and estimate margins where supplied. Original source data remain subject to their publishers’ terms.

We write with AI tools. Every figure comes from the data and sources named on this page, and automated checks compare it with them before it's published.