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.

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Mainland U.S. Low-cost plan

$914

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

+$14.50 (+1.61%)

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

Changes over time

Low-cost plan in Mainland U.S. rose 1.61% 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

Low-cost plan
Data periodMainland U.S. (dollars)
Jun 2021914.0
May 2021907.2
Apr 2021901.5
Mar 2021892.9
Feb 2021889.4
Jan 2021888.6
Dec 2020883.4
Nov 2020880.4
Oct 2020887.2
Sep 2020886.0
Aug 2020891.1
Jul 2020891.1
Jun 2020899.5
May 2020895.5
Apr 2020881.8
Mar 2020860.4
Feb 2020857.6
Jan 2020857.7
Dec 2019849.8
Nov 2019850.3
Oct 2019855.5
Sep 2019849.6
Aug 2019850.9
Jul 2019852.9
Jun 2019850.1
May 2019855.4
Apr 2019853.9
Mar 2019856.2
Feb 2019852.7
Jan 2019852.3
Dec 2018847.3
Nov 2018842.7
Oct 2018846.6
Sep 2018848.0
Aug 2018849.9
Jul 2018848.0
Jun 2018846.0
May 2018846.2
Apr 2018847.2
Mar 2018840.9
Feb 2018844.9
Jan 2018847.4
Dec 2017843.4
Nov 2017843.7
Oct 2017849.0
Sep 2017846.7
Aug 2017845.7
Jul 2017845.7
Jun 2017843.5
May 2017846.6
Apr 2017844.4
Mar 2017840.1
Feb 2017838.9
Jan 2017836.2
Dec 2016835.3
Nov 2016838.5
Oct 2016843.5
Sep 2016843.4
Aug 2016841.6
Jul 2016841.8
Jun 2016843.4
May 2016848.1
Apr 2016849.2
Mar 2016850.1
Feb 2016858.8
Jan 2016858.0
Dec 2015851.9
Nov 2015854.2
Oct 2015859.5
Sep 2015857.4
Aug 2015855.9
Jul 2015851.7
Jun 2015852.0
May 2015854.6
Apr 2015853.5
Mar 2015852.7
Feb 2015859.7
Jan 2015863.2
Dec 2014861.6
Nov 2014857.7
Oct 2014862.4
Sep 2014860.1
Aug 2014856.4
Jul 2014854.6
Jun 2014853.7
May 2014856.9
Apr 2014848.6
Mar 2014843.4
Feb 2014839.8
Jan 2014837.0
Dec 2013829.3
Nov 2013829.2
Oct 2013834.4
Sep 2013832.3
Aug 2013833.8
Jul 2013828.6
Jun 2013825.7
May 2013827.2
Apr 2013826.6
Mar 2013828.2
Feb 2013830.3
Jan 2013832.5
Dec 2012826.2
Nov 2012820.6
Oct 2012821.8
Sep 2012819.7
Aug 2012819.7
Jul 2012819.6
Jun 2012822.3
May 2012820.5
Apr 2012819.2
Mar 2012816.7
Feb 2012817.1
Jan 2012821.1
Dec 2011814.7
Nov 2011810.8
Oct 2011812.7
Sep 2011813.2
Aug 2011805.0
Jul 2011800.1
Jun 2011796.1
May 2011796.9
Apr 2011792.2
Mar 2011791.6
Feb 2011783.0
Jan 2011779.4
Dec 2010765.2
Nov 2010758.9
Oct 2010758.3
Sep 2010756.2
Aug 2010753.7
Jul 2010754.4
Jun 2010758.9
May 2010762.2
Apr 2010761.5
Mar 2010762.0
Feb 2010757.6
Jan 2010760.7
Dec 2009751.4
Nov 2009749.3
Oct 2009752.0
Sep 2009750.5
Aug 2009750.1
Jul 2009755.4
Jun 2009758.7
May 2009759.6
Apr 2009760.1
Mar 2009764.2
Feb 2009770.6
Jan 2009779.4
Dec 2008778.3
Nov 2008782.5
Oct 2008784.9
Sep 2008783.9
Aug 2008778.6
Jul 2008772.0
Jun 2008761.0
May 2008754.3
Apr 2008745.3
Mar 2008732.6
Feb 2008736.6
Jan 2008738.2
Dec 2007726.7
Nov 2007723.3
Oct 2007718.1
Sep 2007712.2

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.