Study: Americans’ budgets for eating out have dropped by 10%

A new study finds that American consumers now spend 30% of their monthly food budget on restaurants, up from 40% just two years ago.

According to Nation’s Restaurant News, the survey, conducted by restaurant marketing technology company Popmenu, asked 1,000 respondents about how they spend their money on food and their attitudes toward restaurants. While “64% of consumers said they would eat out every day if they could,” many said inflation has led them to reconsider how they spend their food budget, including reducing their restaurant outings.

This decrease in spending is reflected in current spending Data from the United States Census Bureau which shows that food and beverage companies generated $93.7 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis in March 2024, up from $94.2 billion in November.

“We are all feeling pressure on the unit economics. Our labor costs are extremely high. Production costs are increasing. We need to price to close that gap so we have enough profit margin to survive,” said Lauren Fernandez, CEO/Founder of Full Course at Nation’s Restaurant News’ recent CREATE Roadshow event in Atlanta. “One of the quickest levers to pull is to take the price, but some of us risk taking too much.”