Restaurant Spending Report (1/2)

From The National Restaurant Association According to the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Spending -- 2002: ? The typical American household spent an average of $2,276 on food away from home in 2002. Per-capita expenditures on food away from home averaged $910 that year. Regional analysis ? The Northeast led all regions in expenditures. The National Restaurant Association's analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey indicates that households in the Northeast recorded the highest average annual expenditures and per-capita expenditures on food away from home in 2002 among the four Census regions. Food-away-from-home spending in the Northeast averaged $2,517 per household, or $1,007 per capita. ? Households in metropolitan areas tend to spend more on food away from home than households located in non-metropolitan areas. Households in Dallas/Ft. Worth posted the highest total and per-capita spending on food away from home among 28 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for which data were available. In 2001-2002, households in Dallas/Ft. Worth spent an average of $3,298, or $1,221 per capita, per year on food away from home. Minneapolis/St. Paul ($1,217), San Francisco ($1,212), Houston ($1,146) and New York City ($1,113) round out the top five metropolitan areas in terms of per-capita spending on food away from home. ? Households in Houston allocated the largest proportion of their total food budget to food away from home (50.4 percent). Income influences spending Household spending on food away from home is heavily influenced by a variety of demographic characteristics; among the most significant factors is household income. Expenditures on food away from home rise dramatically for households with income before taxes of $30,000 or more. ? Households with average income of $70,000 and over accounted for a larger percentage of spending on food away from home than their share of the population. In 2002, these households accounted for 41 percent of total spending on food away from home, despite comprising only 19 percent of the population. Households with average income of $70,000 and over spent an average of $4,350 -- $1,403 per capita -- on food away from home in 2002 and allocated the largest share of their total food dollar on food away from home (49.0 percent). In contrast, households with income before taxes between $15,000 and $19,999 spent an average of $1,286 -- or $612 per capita -- and allocated 34.1 percent of their total food dollar on food away from home in 2002. Spending by age Another important demographic characteristic influencing restaurant spending is the age of the household head. ? Households with younger household heads spent the largest share of their food dollar on food away from home in 2002. Households headed by persons under age 25 spent 46.8 percent of their total food dollar on food away from home. However, consumers in this age bracket are often at the beginning of their careers and, consequently, usually earn less than older consumers. As a result, although they spent the largest share of their food dollar on food away from home, total spending on food away from home by these households was well below the nation’s average for all households. ? Adults between the ages of 35 and 54 are in the prime of their earning potential, and their higher incomes result in higher spending on food away from home. However, adults in the younger half of that category, age 35 to 44, are also in their prime child-raising years. As a result, although these households spent the largest total amount on food away from home, their higher average household size (3.2 persons) brought their per-capita restaurant spending down. In 2002, households headed by 35-to-44-year-olds allocated an average of $2,712 to food away