Food rose to 12.4 percent of U.S. households’ expenditures in 2021

Expenditures on food accounted for 12.4 percent of U.S. households’ spending in 2021, an increase from 11.9 percent in 2020. The share of household expenditures on food ranked third behind housing (33.8 percent) and transportation (16.4 percent). Compared with 2020, shares for entertainment/alcoholic beverages, food, transportation, apparel, and “other” categories of spending rose slightly in 2021, and shares for housing, healthcare, savings, education/reading, and personal insurance/pensions fell slightly.
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