What are the dinner time habits of each state? The time and types of evening meals can vary significantly around the world. But what differences are there within the United States? We conducted a study to find out more about the dinner time habits of the US and to dive into individual state habits. We’ve found out what time people in each state usually eat dinner, how much they spend on takeout, and which states are most interested in home cooking.
This post may include affiliate links that earn us a small commission from your purchases at no extra cost to you.
Average Dinner Times Across the United States
The national average time to have dinner in the US is 6:18 PM, some states eat much earlier or later. 6:00 PM is a popular dinner time, as many states choose to eat then, including Alaska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.
Which states eat the earliest?
The national average time to have dinner in the US is 6:18 PM, some states eat even earlier.
People in Pennsylvania have their evening meal the earliest, with people sitting down for dinner at 5:37 PM on average. This is over one hour and 20 minutes earlier than the states where people eat the latest, Mississippi and Texas.
Maine is just behind Pennsylvania as people usually eat dinner three minutes later, at 5:40 PM.
Which states eat the latest?
People in Mississippi and Texas wait the longest for their evening meal, with the average dinner time at 7:02 PM. This is just two minutes later than those in Arkansas and Tennessee who start eating at 7:00 PM.
New York inhabitants tend to opt for a 6:41 PM dinner time, while people in North Carolina have theirs seven minutes earlier, at 6:34 PM.
Takeout Spending Changes in the last 10 Years
The amount of money spent on takeout food per person in the US has increased steadily over the past decade. It went from $2,692 in 2012 to $4,181 in 2022 — a more than 55% increase.
From 2012 to 2019, the year-on-year increase was relatively modest, typically between 2% and 4%. However, in 2020, there was a much more significant jump of over 10% in the average takeout spending per person. This large increase was likely caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to many restaurants closing their dine-in services.
This pandemic effect continued in 2021 and 2022, with the average takeout spending per person rising at 7.45% and 7.81%, respectively.
Which states spend the most on Take Out?
Hawaii tops the list with an average annual spend of $5,322 per person, translating to approximately $14.58 per day, $102.35 per week, and $443.50 per month.
Closely following are New Hampshire ($5,190 annually), Maine ($5,151), and Vermont ($4,957).
Massachusetts rounds out the top five with an average annual spend of $4,789 per capita, which is $13.12 per day, $92.10 per week, and $399.08 per month.
Colorado ($4,781), Wyoming ($4,777), and Montana ($4,775) are a close trio, with differences of $6 or less between their respective average annual takeout spends per capita.
Which states spend the least on take out?
Oklahomans spend almost half as much on takeout as Hawaiians. Oklahoma had the lowest average annual takeout spending of $3,198 per capita in 2022. This is a daily average of $8.76, a weekly average of $61.50, and a monthly average of $266.50 per person — over 49% lower than the takeout bill in Hawaii.
Tennessee ($3,427 annually) and Arkansas ($3,461) follow closely behind Oklahoma, with Arkansas having a slightly higher average annual takeout spend per capita than Tennessee.
South Dakota ($3,592) and Minnesota ($3,657) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, with Minnesota’s average annual takeout spend per capita being $65 higher than South Dakota’s.
Which states have the biggest increase in take out spending?
California had the biggest jump in average yearly takeout spending per person from 2012 to 2022, with a 70.5% increase. In 2012, the average Californian spent $2,659 on takeout for the whole year, but by 2022, this amount had gone up to $4,534.
Colorado is next with a 65.7% increase, from $2,886 in 2012 to $4,781 in 2022. During those ten years, Illinois and Rhode Island also saw huge growths of 63.6% and 62.8%, respectively.
Several other parts of the country also experienced notable rises in takeout spending over the past decade. Florida’s average yearly takeout spend per person grew by 62.5%, from $2,809 in 2012 to $4,565 in 2022.
Maine and New York had the same 62.2% increase, with Maine going from $3,175 to $5,151 and New York increasing from $2,539 to $4,119. North Carolina’s takeout spending went up by 61.9%, reaching $4,163 in 2022, $1,592 more than in 2012.
Which states have the smallest increase in take out spending?
Alaska had the smallest increase in average yearly takeout spending per person from 2012 to 2022, with only a 20.2% rise. In 2012, the average Alaskan spent $3,860 on takeout for the whole year, up to $4,641 in 2022. North Dakota and Tennessee also saw relatively small increases of 27.4% and 28.1% during those ten years.
Minnesota’s average yearly takeout spend per person grew by 34.6%, going from $2,716 in 2012 to $3,657 in 2022. South Dakota saw a 36.1% increase, with its average rising from $2,639 to $3,592. Vermont’s takeout spending went up by 37.8%, reaching $4,957 in 2022, higher than $3,596 in 2012.
Which states are most interested in take out?
To find the states searching for takeout and home-cooked recipes the most, we took the average monthly searches for terms relating to the topic and compared this to the total online reach. The total reach is based on the number of Google users who were signed in.
Rhode Island has the highest percentage of searches for takeout-related terms compared to its online population. Around 12.19% of Rhode Island’s 1,160,000 online reach search phrases like ‘doordash’, ‘takeout near me’, and ‘fast food near me’ each month.
Delaware is second, with 10.74% of its 1,240,000 reach searching for takeout — an average of 141,440 monthly searches. South Carolina and Michigan also rank high, with around 10% of their online populations searching for takeouts nearby.
Which states are least interested in take out?
Under 4% of people in Mississippi are searching for takeout on Google.
Only 3.70% of Mississippi’s 4,310,000 Google users search for takeouts, with a monthly average of 159,620 searches. Iowa follows closely, with 4.81% of its 4,420,000 reach searching for takeout-related terms. Kansas also ranks among the states with the lowest search interest, with 5.09% of the total reach searching for things like ‘burger near me’ and ‘ubereats’.
While Georgia has a high number of overall searches, at 1,007,360 a month, this only accounts for 5.79% of signed-in Google users in the state.
Which states are most interested in home cooking?
People in Montana are searching for home-cooked recipes the most.
Montana is the state searching for terms related to home cooking the most. The average of 9,350 monthly searches translates to just over 1% of the total online reach in the state. Although this may seem low, it is almost five times higher than the percentage found in Mississippi.
Alaska is in second place, with 0.94% of Google users looking for dinner ideas by searching for terms like ‘dinner recipes’.
Which states are the least interested in home cooking?
Mississippi is the state least interested in home cooking.
With 8,960 monthly searches for terms relating to home cooking (on average), Mississippi is the state where people are least interested in home-cooked dinners. These searches account for just 0.21% of the total online reach of the area.
Even with 38,900,000 signed-in Google users, there are only 87,880 searches per month for home-cooking terms in New York — leaving the searches as a percentage of total reach at only 0.23%.
How to incorporate better dinner habits
Cooking dinner every day can seem daunting. And, while there’s nothing wrong with an occasional takeout, you can save money and improve your health by cooking at home. Here are some tips to help improve your dinner time habits:
1. Make meal planning a priority
Spend some time each week planning out your dinners for the upcoming days. For example, you could dedicate a few hours on a Sunday afternoon to create a weekly meal plan. This will help you ensure you have all the necessary ingredients on hand and prevent last-minute scrambling or resorting to takeout.
To help with meal planning, look online for new dishes to try out and make cooking fun again! At The Cookie Rookie, we have plenty of recipes to browse, from casserole recipes to one-pot meals and more.
2. Establish a regular dinnertime
Having a consistent time for dinner each day can help create a routine and make it easier to plan and prepare meals. While we understand this isn’t always possible when life gets in the way, having a usual dinner time also allows family members to adjust their schedules and be present for the meal.
3. Create a distraction-free environment
During dinner time, make it a habit to turn off televisions, put away phones or tablets, and avoid other distractions. This allows you to focus on the meal and engage in quality family time or mindful eating.
By adopting these habits into your dinner time routine, you can not only improve your overall nutrition and health but also take the stress out of cooking to create a more enjoyable experience for you and your loved ones.
Methodology
We used FlowingData to find the peak average dinner time for each state.
We also used BEA interactive tables to find the average spend on ‘Food and
beverages for off-premises consumption’ per capita nationally and per state for 2022, the newest data available at the time of writing. We also compared this data from 2012 to 2022.
Use search data from Google Ads Keyword Planner to determine the number of searches for takeouts. These search terms included:
- burger near me
- chinese food near me
- doordash
- fast food near me
- grubhub
- indian food near me
- justeat
- pizza near me
- takeout near me
- thai food near me
- ubereats
We then compared these to searches for home-cooked meals using these terms:
- dinner recipes
- recipes
- what to cook for dinner
- dinner inspiration
- dinner ideas
- home cooked meals
- home cooking
- easy dinner recipes
- simple dinner recipes
- things to cook for dinner
To normalize this data, we took the searches as a percentage of total reach in Google Ads Keyword Planner. Total reach is based on the number of signed-in users visiting Google sites.
All data was collected on 04/12/2024 and is correct as of then.
