Food affordability is measured through several lenses: whether households can reliably obtain enough food, how much of their budgets food absorbs, how prices and spending change, and what a healthy diet costs. The figures below cover U.S. households and consumer units, selected international comparisons, and modeled global healthy-diet costs, with measurement periods kept explicit.
Key Food Affordability Statistics
The most broadly useful food affordability figures include:
- 13.7% of U.S. households, or 18.3 million households, were food insecure at some time in 2024.
- 5.4% of U.S. households, or 7.2 million households, had very low food security in 2024.
- 47.9 million people lived in food-insecure U.S. households in 2024.
- 751,000 U.S. children, or 1.0% of children, lived in households where at least one child experienced very low food security in 2024.
- U.S. household food insecurity rose from 12.8% in 2022 to 13.7% in 2024.
- The lowest U.S. income quintile spent 32.6% of after-tax income on food in 2023.
- The middle U.S. income quintile spent 13.5% of after-tax income on food in 2023.
- The highest U.S. income quintile spent 8.1% of after-tax income on food in 2023.
- Total U.S. food prices increased 5.8% in 2023.
- Average U.S. food spending was $10,169 per consumer unit in 2024.
- Average U.S. food-at-home spending was $6,224 per consumer unit in 2024.
- 18.4% of U.S. households with children, or 6.7 million households, were food insecure in 2024.
- Rural U.S. households had a 15.4% food-insecurity rate in 2023.
- Food at home accounted for less than 10% of household spending in the United States in 2023.
- Food at home accounted for nearly 60% of household spending in Nigeria in 2023.
- U.S. per-capita calorie availability was 3,914 calories per person per day in 2023.
- The world average modeled cost of a healthy diet was 4.46 international dollars per person per day in 2024.
Contents
- Key Food Affordability Statistics
- Household Food Affordability and Food Security
- Food Affordability by Income and Budget Pressure
- U.S. Food Spending and Grocery Price Trends
- Food Affordability for Children and Communities
- Global Food Affordability, Spending Shares, and Calories
- Healthy-Diet Affordability and Nutritious Food Costs
Household Food Affordability and Food Security
The USDA defines food security as access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food insecurity is a household survey construct about constrained resources, so it is not identical to low income, hunger on a particular day, or a food-price index.
In the United States during 2024:
- 86.3% of households, or 115.7 million households, were food secure throughout the year.
- 13.7% of households, or 18.3 million households, were food insecure at some time.
- 8.3% of households, or 11.1 million households, had low food security.
- 5.4% of households, or 7.2 million households, had very low food security, involving reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns at times.
- 47.9 million people lived in food-insecure households, including 33.8 million adults.
- 12.3 million adults lived in households with very low food security.
USDA’s Food Security in the U.S. – Key Statistics & Graphics reports that food insecurity was 12.8% of households in 2022, 13.5% in 2023, and 13.7% in 2024. The 2024 estimate was not statistically significantly different from either 2022 or 2023.
| Period | Food insecurity | Very low food security |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12.8% | 5.1% |
| 2023 | 13.5% | 5.1% |
| 2024 | 13.7% | 5.4% |
Longer-run USDA figures show 10.7% food insecurity in 2001, 11.9% in 2004, 14.6% in 2008, 14.9% in 2011, and 14.0% in 2014. The rate was 11.1% in 2018, 10.5% in 2019, and remained 10.5% in 2020; the 2018-to-2019 decline was statistically significant, while 2019-to-2020 was statistically unchanged.
Across combined 2022–2024 estimates, state food-insecurity prevalence ranged from 9.0% in North Dakota to 19.4% in Arkansas. State very-low-food-security prevalence ranged from 3.4% in South Dakota to 9.0% in Kentucky; these pooled estimates improve reliability but are not single-year rankings.
Food Affordability by Income and Budget Pressure
USDA’s 2023 expenditure comparisons show why the same food market can create very different budget pressure. The figures are averages for income quintiles, and the food share uses average quintile income and spending rather than a marginal food-cost measure.
| U.S. income quintile, 2023 | Average after-tax income | Average food spending | Food share of after-tax income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest | $16,171 | $5,278, about $102 per week | 32.6% |
| Middle | $66,606 | $8,989, about $173 per week | 13.5% |
| Highest | $211,042 | $16,996, about $327 per week | 8.1% |
The lowest income quintile therefore had the smallest average food spending in dollars but the largest food-budget burden as a share of after-tax income. These are nominal expenditure estimates, not poverty-line thresholds.
The same USDA source reports that total U.S. food prices increased 5.8% in 2023, while food-at-home prices increased 5.0%. Food-at-home refers to groceries and food intended for preparation at home; a nominal price increase does not by itself measure the change in household affordability.
U.S. Food Spending and Grocery Price Trends
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported average 2024 annual expenditures of $78,535 per U.S. consumer unit. Consumer units are not identical to households, and the figures below are nominal spending averages that combine price, quantity, and composition effects.
| Food spending category | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food at home | $5,703 | $6,053 | $6,224 |
| Food away from home | $3,639 | $3,933 | $3,945 |
| Total food spending in 2024 | — | — | $10,169 |
BLS’s Consumer Expenditures–2024 – 2024 A01 Results also reports these 2024 food-at-home category results compared with 2023:
- Cereals and bakery products averaged $779, down 6.1%.
- Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs averaged $1,414, up 21.5%.
- Dairy products averaged $631, up 4.8%.
- Fruits and vegetables averaged $953, down 3.5%.
- Other food at home averaged $2,447, down 0.9%.
These category changes describe spending, not isolated unit prices. A household can change quantities, product mix, or eating location while the reported category total changes.
Food Affordability for Children and Communities
Households with children experienced higher food insecurity than the overall U.S. household measure in 2024. USDA reported that 81.6% of households with children under 18 were food secure throughout the year, while 18.4%, or 6.7 million households, were food insecure.
Among U.S. households with children in 2024:
- In 9.3%, only adults were food insecure.
- In 9.1%, both children and adults were food insecure, representing about 3.3 million households.
- 7.3 million children lived in food-insecure households in which children and adults were food insecure.
- 751,000 children, or 1.0% of U.S. children, lived in households where at least one child experienced very low food security.
The child and adult measures can differ within the same household, and very low food security is episodic and survey based. The counts describe household classifications rather than a clinical measure of nutrition for each person.
USDA’s 2023 community comparison also shows different prevalence and population-share concepts:
| Community type, 2023 | Food-insecurity rate | Share of food-insecure households |
|---|---|---|
| Rural, outside metropolitan areas | 15.4% | 15.9% |
| Suburban and exurban | 11.7% | 38.8% |
| Principal cities | 15.9% | 33.2% |
The two columns have different denominators: prevalence is the rate within the community group, while the second measure is that group’s share of all food-insecure households. The source cautions that residence categories describe prevalence, not causal effects of rural or urban location.
Global Food Affordability, Spending Shares, and Calories
International comparisons require care because household-spending definitions and data quality differ. USDA’s comparison uses food prepared and eaten at home, while calorie availability describes supply available for consumption rather than measured individual intake or diet quality.
| Country, 2023 | Food-at-home share of household spending | Calorie availability |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Less than 10% | 3,914 calories per person per day |
| United Kingdom | Less than 10% | Not reported in the supplied comparison |
| Nigeria | Nearly 60% | 2,469 calories per person per day |
The U.S. and United Kingdom each allocated less than 10% of household spending to food at home in 2023, while Nigeria allocated nearly 60%. USDA’s Around the world, calorie availability and prominence of food in household spending are inversely related presents these as approximate international comparison values, not a measure of whether every person consumed the available calories.
Healthy-Diet Affordability and Nutritious Food Costs
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s healthy-diet cost series is a model-based estimate expressed in 2021 purchasing-power-parity dollars. It is not a local shelf-price series, and affordability also depends on income and distribution.
| Year | World average cost of a healthy diet, 2021 PPP dollars per person per day |
|---|---|
| 2019 | $3.30 |
| 2020 | $3.43 |
| 2021 | $3.60 |
| 2022 | $4.01 |
| 2023 | $4.30 |
| 2024 | $4.46 |
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 reports the world average modeled cost for each year from 2019 through 2024. The latest year may be subject to revision.
Regional estimates also increased over the same period:
- Africa’s average cost rose from 3.21 PPP dollars per person per day in 2019 to 4.41 in 2024.
- Sub-Saharan Africa’s average cost rose from 3.18 PPP dollars per person per day in 2019 to 4.37 in 2024.
These PPP figures support comparisons of modeled purchasing power, but they should not be presented as nominal local-currency prices. Together with household food-security surveys and spending data, they show why food affordability involves both access to enough food and the resources needed to obtain a nutritious diet.