How much food does the average family waste?
About $1,254 a year for a family of four, going by what a typical family buys. Here's where that number comes from, which foods drive it, and how it has changed since 2020.
By Justin and Mary KatzmanThat's for a typical family cart: eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese, chicken, beef, strawberries, bananas, apples, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, lettuce, bread and baked goods, cereal and oatmeal, pasta, frozen meals, pizza and waffles, chips, crackers and snacks, candy and sweets and juice. For those foods, about one in every six dollars spent ends up uneaten. See your own number
The national picture
USDA's Economic Research Service estimates that about 31% of the U.S. food supply at the retail and consumer levels goes uneaten, about 133 billion pounds worth $161.6 billion (2010 data). Most of that loss happens in homes, not stores. USDA ERS, EIB-121
Meat is a third of the money, and most of the climate cost
Per person, per year. Meat is 36% of the dollars Americans throw away, but 81% of the greenhouse gas from that waste, mostly beef. Produce goes uneaten most often, but costs less per pound.
| Group | Share of money | Share of climate cost |
|---|---|---|
| Meat | 36% | 81% |
| Produce | 21% | 3% |
| Dairy & eggs | 11% | 12% |
| Packaged & pantry | 32% | 4% |
Meat prices have climbed the most
How the price of each food group has moved since January 2020, using the same national averages as the rest of this page. The spikes in dairy and eggs are egg prices, which jumped during bird flu outbreaks. Hover or tap the chart to compare any month.
Every aisle, side by side
| Meat | 3 | 21% | $169 | 595 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakery & boxed * | 2 | 19% | $54 | – |
| Dairy & eggs | 4 | 15% | $53 | 90 kg |
| Fruit | 19 | 29% | $50 | 12 kg |
| Vegetables | 23 | 24% | $49 | 9 kg |
| Frozen * | 5 | 22% | $46 | 6 kg |
| Snacks & drinks * | 3 | 13% | $33 | 1 kg |
| Pantry | 3 | 23% | $11 | 14 kg |
| Canned | 4 | 21% | $11 | 6 kg |
Tap a column to sort. Packaged foods' waste shares are estimates, and they aren't counted in CO₂e.
Which foods go uneaten most
Share of each food that's bought but never eaten at home, from USDA's loss-adjusted food data.
Where the money goes
Dollars the average American throws away each year, per food, at today's national prices.
It's getting more expensive to waste
The same family cart costs about 37% more than it did in January 2020, so the food that goes uneaten costs more too, even when habits haven't changed.
Does it matter for the climate?
The typical family cart's uneaten food adds up to about 2,480 kg of CO₂e a year, about the same as driving 6,199 miles in an average car.
How we got these numbers
Pounds per person and the share uneaten come from USDA's Loss-Adjusted Food Availability data. Prices are national averages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Every source and formula is on our methodology page.