Where do people spend the most and least on groceries in the US?

As grocery prices rise, Samantha Black has cut her budget in other places to feed her family of five.

"You can't cut out groceries," said Black, who lives in Dallas with her husband and three kids. So they cut back on eating out. The family spends about $600 a month on groceries, up from about $400 last year.

A new WalletHub study analyzed the U.S. cities where people spend the most and least on groceries. The study reviewed 26 common items in 100 cities and compared them to the median household income to determine where Americans spend the greatest percentage of their income on groceries.

Shoppers in Detroit spend the most while shoppers in Fremont, California, spend the least. Dallas ranked No. 39.

Shoppers alarmed by high prices

Shoppers are keenly sensitive to fluctuations in grocery prices since food is an unavoidable expense and some people go to a grocery store as often as once or twice a week, Joseph Balagtas, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University told USA TODAY.

While higher prices hit all pocketbooks, the pinch is often felt more by lower-income shoppers, he said.

Food prices at grocery stores rose by 0.6% from July to August, the fastest monthly rate change for groceries in three years, according to the September consumer price index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. They are also 29% higher since before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CPI statistics.

Prices differ regionally as well, according to Balagtas. For example, beef prices are high nationwide due to a smaller beef herd and strong demand. In some places, beef prices are even higher than others. A pound of ground beef was 24% higher in 2024 in the western part of the U.S. than in the south, according to government data, he said.

"Part of that is the cost of delivery and cost of the retail space and the cost of workers," he said. "If a retailer has to pay higher rent in New York City ... than in rural Indiana, then you know that the higher cost ... is going to get passed on to consumers."

What cities spend the most on groceries?

Here are some results from WalletHub's analysis, which ranked the top 100 U.S. cities. The top-ranked city had the most expensive groceries as a share of the median monthly household income.

1. Detroit (3.78% )
2. Cleveland (3.77%)
3. Birmingham, Alabama (3.28%)
4. Newark, New Jersey (3.16%)
5. Toledo, Ohio (3.09%)
6. Hialeah, Florida (3.00%)
7. Buffalo, New York (2.98%)
8. Cincinnati (2.90%)
9. Milwaukee (2.89%)
10. Memphis, Tennessee (2.87%)

People in Detroit spend the most on groceries, not because the food is most expensive there but because the city has the second-lowest median annual household income at $39,575, said Chip Lupo, WalletHub analyst. Cleveland has the lowest median household income in the country at $39,187.

Some of the most expensive cities "are a lot of Rust Belt cities and a lot of formerly thriving ... cities where the factory jobs have left," Lupo told USA TODAY.

What cities spend the least on groceries?

Here are the cities where shoppers spent the least on groceries:

90. Chandler, Arizona (1.45%)

91. Scottsdale, Arizona (1.40%)

92. Huntington Beach, California (1.33%)

93. Santa Clarita, California (1.33%)

94. Plano, Texas (1.33%)

95. Seattle (1.32%)

96. Gilbert, Arizona (1.24%)

97. Irvine, California (1.23%)

98. San Francisco (1.22%)

99. San Jose, California (1.16%)

100. Fremont, California (0.96%)

Lupo said while California grocery costs can be high, incomes are also higher and cost of living is higher.

How families save money on groceries

To save money on groceries, Black recently started shopping at a Costco Business Center, which is open to to Costco members but items are sold in larger quantities.

In June, Black, who creates content on social media about everyday life as a working mom, chronicled how she bought 120 pounds of chicken for $160.

"That helped us out tremendously because we had chicken for at least three months or so," Black told USA TODAY. The disadvantage, she said, was that while the meat was already cut up, the family had to package the 303 wings, 108 drumsticks and 40 large chicken breasts themselves before putting the meat in their deep freezer.

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher and @blinfisher.bsky.social on Bluesky. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which breaks down complex consumer and financial news. Subscribe here.