Study: Southern states spend highest percentage of income on groceries

Consumers in New Jersey (1.5%) spend the smallest percentage of their monthly income on groceries.

While grocery prices have risen across the country since 2019, high prices are impacting consumers differently in each state.

WalletHub analyzed the prices of 26 common grocery items in each of the 50 states, then compared the prices to the median household income in order to determine which consumers are spending the greatest percentage of their income on groceries. The data revealed that consumers in Southern states such as Mississippi (2.64%), West Virginia (2.57%), Arkansas (2.49%), Kentucky (2.41%) and Louisiana (2.39%) spend the most per month on trips to the grocery store.

WalletHub notes that grocery prices in Mississippi are actually relatively low – the ninth-cheapest in the nation. However, the state has the lowest median annual household income in the country at just $52,985. Even with relatively low grocery prices overall, Mississippians are spending a higher percentage of their income on groceries than people in any other state.

Other Southern states mostly rounded out the top 10. Consumers in New Mexico (2.36%), Alabama (2.34%), South Carolina (2.27%), Tennessee (2.23%) and Oklahoma (2.21%) all spend a higher percentage of their monthly income on groceries compared to their counterparts in other states.

Consumers in New Jersey (1.5%) spend the smallest percentage of their monthly income on groceries, followed by Maryland (1.54%), Massachusetts (1.54%), New Hampshire (1.6%), Connecticut (1.62%) and Utah (1.63%). Despite higher food prices, these states have much higher median household incomes.

“While grocery prices have gone up tremendously in recent years, the states in which people spend the greatest percentage of their income on groceries actually aren’t those with the highest prices,” said Chip Lupo, analyst at WalletHub. “Instead, the median incomes in these states are quite low, so even with reasonable grocery prices, residents end up shelling out a higher percentage of their earnings than people in states with more expensive products.”