The Backstory

As I chomped on my take out sandwich during work today, I thought to myself, “Did I really just spend $16 for an artisan sandwich?” “Well, atleast I support local business,” I would try to reassure myself. This got me thinking, how much is the average fast food sandwich? Subways 5 lies dollar footlong is no longer a thing, so how much would that run? Do most people make lunch? Pack lunch? Or get takeaway every day? Being a data dork, I had to find data and have it tell me a story.

The Data Source

In 2015, Visa launched a campaign to track how much Americans spend on lunch. Visa conducted 2,033 telephone interviews across various regious of the United States over the course of three days and gathered the results.

The Data

The data presented interesting findings surrounding cost, frequency, sex, and location of customers survey. The study answered the age old question, do Americans Dine In more? Or Eat Out more? Shown below is an image from that the Visa study.

Eating out Spending:

On Average, Americans eat lunch about two times per week costing roughly $20.05, making the average American pack a lunch rather than eat out. Me personally, I was shocked by this. In corporate world, I see people eating out nearly daily, so it was interesting to see how much people pack in.

Demographic findings on cost:

• Western United States – $866 per year on lunch
• Midwestern United States – $896 per year on lunch
• Northeastern United States – $1,001 per year on lunch
• Southern United States – $1,240 per year on lunch

Sex:

• Men spend 60% more than women on lunch by dining out more frequently on pricier means – 2.1 times/week x $11.87 avg meal = $24.93/week
• Women: 1.5 times/week x $10.37 avg meal = $15.56/week

The Meaning

In 2015, American’s on average spent a total on average of $2,746 per year on lunch. If an individual was to pack a lunch five days a week, an individual would spend roughly $6 per day or $1,704 per year, making the assumption that you could save $1,042 a year by packing lunch every day.

The question still remains in my head, how does this information translate to 2022.

Taking all of these stats and multiplying them by 1.25, we get these results:

• Average Spent on Lunch: $2,746 * 1.25 = $3,432
• Average Spent on Takeout for 2 days a week = $20.05 * 1.25 = $25.06
• Average Spent if Takeout was eaten 5 days a week = $20.05 *2.5 *1.25 = $62.66

Demographic Findings

• Western United States – $866 * 1.25 = $1,082 per year on lunch
• Midwestern United States – $896 *1.25 = $1,120 per year on lunch
• Northeastern United States – $1,001 *1.25 = $1,251 per year on lunch
• Southern United States – $1,240 *1.25 = $1,550 per year on lunch

After inflation adjustment, the numbers seem more realistic to me. I want to do a deeper dive on my personal spending for lunch and see how my own personal data compares. I’ll save that for another post.

Thanks for reading everyone! Please let me know below what other things you’d be interested in me analyzing!

-Jon

The Sources

When Lunch Bites Back – Visa, 2015