With grocery prices having risen more than 25% over the past five years, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the States Where People Spend the Most & Least on Groceries to offer insight into where Americans are having the most trouble affording food.
WalletHub analyzed the prices of 26 common grocery items in each of the 50 states, then added these costs together and compared them to the median household income in order to determine where people are spending the greatest percentage of their income on groceries.
Grocery Spending in South Carolina (1=Most Expensive; 25=Avg.):
- Average Cost of Groceries: $120.27
- Average Cost of Groceries as % of Median Monthly Household Income: 2.27%
- 7th – Average Price of Ground Beef
- 25th – Average Price of Eggs
- 3rd – Average Price of Potatoes
- 10th – Average Price of Sugar
- 27th – Average Price of Soft Drinks
States That Spend the Most & Least on Groceries
| Overall Rank* | State | Cost of Groceries as a Share of Median Monthly Household Income |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | 2.64% |
| 2 | West Virginia | 2.57% |
| 3 | Arkansas | 2.49% |
| 4 | Kentucky | 2.41% |
| 5 | Louisiana | 2.39% |
| 6 | New Mexico | 2.36% |
| 7 | Alabama | 2.34% |
| 8 | South Carolina | 2.27% |
| 9 | Tennessee | 2.23% |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 2.21% |
| 11 | Montana | 2.20% |
| 12 | Ohio | 2.19% |
| 13 | North Carolina | 2.17% |
| 14 | Maine | 2.13% |
| 15 | Indiana | 2.13% |
| 16 | Florida | 2.13% |
| 17 | Michigan | 2.12% |
| 18 | Missouri | 2.11% |
| 19 | Nevada | 2.04% |
| 20 | Arizona | 2.04% |
| 21 | South Dakota | 2.02% |
| 22 | Kansas | 2.02% |
| 23 | Idaho | 2.01% |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 2.00% |
| 25 | Oregon | 2.00% |
| 26 | Wyoming | 2.00% |
| 27 | Vermont | 1.99% |
| 28 | Iowa | 1.99% |
| 29 | Pennsylvania | 1.98% |
| 30 | Georgia | 1.98% |
| 31 | Alaska | 1.95% |
| 32 | Nebraska | 1.95% |
| 33 | Texas | 1.91% |
| 34 | North Dakota | 1.87% |
| 35 | New York | 1.87% |
| 36 | Illinois | 1.84% |
| 37 | Delaware | 1.82% |
| 38 | Rhode Island | 1.78% |
| 39 | Washington | 1.71% |
| 40 | California | 1.69% |
| 41 | Hawaii | 1.68% |
| 42 | Colorado | 1.67% |
| 43 | Virginia | 1.66% |
| 44 | Minnesota | 1.66% |
| 45 | Utah | 1.63% |
| 46 | Connecticut | 1.62% |
| 47 | New Hampshire | 1.60% |
| 48 | Massachusetts | 1.54% |
| 49 | Maryland | 1.54% |
| 50 | New Jersey | 1.50% |
Note: *No. 1 = Highest Spending
For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-where-people-spend-the-most-least-on-groceries/144275
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
