US states by food-away-from-home sales

California had the highest food-away-from-home sales of 51 states in 2016, at $119.3 billion. Wyoming had the lowest, at $1.34 billion. The median was $10.94 billion. Source: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Highest119,301.6California

Lowest1,344.4Wyoming

Median10,936.651 states

Map of states, 2016

Under 3,000
3,000 to 6,000
6,000 to 11K
11K to 16K
16K to 24K
24K and over

USD million, 2016. Source: USDA ERS. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2016

USD million. Source: USDA ERS. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2016 USD million	Change on 2015
1	California	119,301.6	+8%
2	Texas	76,857.4	+6.5%
3	New York	59,506.3	+6.5%
4	Florida	57,573.9	+6.9%
5	Illinois	33,977.4	+5.7%
6	Pennsylvania	28,831.8	+5.6%
7	Ohio	27,571.7	+4.7%
8	Georgia	26,812.5	+6.8%
9	North Carolina	24,778.1	+6%
10	New Jersey	22,715.2	+6.2%
11	Virginia	21,549.4	+5.5%
12	Michigan	21,342.4	+6.3%
13	Massachusetts	21,283	+6.2%
14	Washington	19,791.3	+8.9%
15	Tennessee	17,439.9	+6.9%
16	Arizona	17,186.5	+7.7%
17	Colorado	16,456.3	+7.6%
18	Maryland	15,828.6	+5.5%
19	Indiana	15,601.6	+4.3%
20	Missouri	14,505.1	+4.9%
21	Minnesota	13,306.2	+4.8%
22	South Carolina	12,560.6	+6.9%
23	Nevada	12,352.1	+6.3%
24	Wisconsin	12,315.5	+5.4%
25	Louisiana	12,112.9	+7%
26	Alabama	10,936.6	+5.8%
27	Kentucky	10,311.2	+5.2%
28	Oregon	10,169.7	+7.8%
29	Connecticut	9,712.1	+4.1%
30	Oklahoma	8,945.9	+4.4%
31	Utah	6,818.7	+8.6%
32	Kansas	6,601	+4.6%
33	Mississippi	6,530.4	+4.2%
34	Iowa	6,495.9	+4.8%
35	Arkansas	6,348.3	+5.4%
36	Hawaii	6,234.4	+6.2%
37	New Mexico	4,571.6	+5.1%
38	District of Columbia	4,396.7	+6.1%
39	Nebraska	4,265.2	+5.4%
40	New Hampshire	3,798.7	+5.9%
41	West Virginia	3,739.7	+3.4%
42	Maine	3,475	+6.9%
43	Idaho	3,355.2	+7.7%
44	Rhode Island	3,100.6	+5.9%
45	Delaware	2,426.8	+5.4%
46	Montana	2,422.6	+5.6%
47	South Dakota	1,924.7	+5.1%
48	North Dakota	1,868.3	+4.3%
49	Alaska	1,793.4	+2.7%
50	Vermont	1,577.9	+5.7%
51	Wyoming	1,344.4	+2.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Annual sales of meals and snacks bought away from home, at restaurants, schools, hotels and other places in the state, including sales taxes and tips, to all purchasers, in millions of US dollars at current prices (USDA ERS Food Expenditure Series).

USDA Economic Research Service, Food Expenditure Series. US states and DC only; no national value is served because the national tables of the series are compiled differently and do not add up to the states. Sales include sales taxes and tips and cover purchases by households, businesses and governments, at current prices. Food at home is food bought at grocery stores, supercenters, convenience stores and other outlets for preparation at home; food away from home is meals and snacks bought at restaurants, schools, hotels and other places. Alcoholic drinks are not included. Recent years are revised when ERS updates the series.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

USDA, Economic Research Service. Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars. https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/5204/state-food-sales-with-taxes-and-tips-for-all-purchasers.csv?v=55730. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2026). Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars (US states by food-away-from-home sales, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/5204/state-food-sales-with-taxes-and-tips-for-all-purchasers.csv?v=55730

MLA 9

Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars, US states by food-away-from-home sales, 2016. Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1 June 2026, https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/5204/state-food-sales-with-taxes-and-tips-for-all-purchasers.csv?v=55730. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/food-away-from-home-sales/us-states?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2026. Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars. US states by food-away-from-home sales, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/5204/state-food-sales-with-taxes-and-tips-for-all-purchasers.csv?v=55730. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/food-away-from-home-sales/us-states?period=2016.

Harvard

Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (2026) Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars, US states by food-away-from-home sales, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/5204/state-food-sales-with-taxes-and-tips-for-all-purchasers.csv?v=55730, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/food-away-from-home-sales/us-states?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{economic_us_states_by_food_2016,
  author = {{Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture}},
  title = {{Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars: US states by food-away-from-home sales, 2016}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/5204/state-food-sales-with-taxes-and-tips-for-all-purchasers.csv?v=55730},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/food-away-from-home-sales/us-states?period=2016. Publisher attribution: USDA, Economic Research Service. Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars. https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/5204/state-food-sales-with-taxes-and-tips-for-all-purchasers.csv?v=55730. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
TI  - Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars: US states by food-away-from-home sales, 2016
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/01
PB  - Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/5204/state-food-sales-with-taxes-and-tips-for-all-purchasers.csv?v=55730
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/food-away-from-home-sales/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/food-away-from-home-sales/us-states?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: USDA, Economic Research Service. Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars. https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/5204/state-food-sales-with-taxes-and-tips-for-all-purchasers.csv?v=55730. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which state has the highest food-away-from-home sales?

California, with $119.3 billion in 2016, according to Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Which state has the lowest food-away-from-home sales?

Wyoming, with $1.34 billion in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Expenditure Series, state food sales with taxes and tips for all purchasers, food-away-from-home sales, millions of nominal US dollars. Retrieved 2026-10-12.