This State Spends The Most On Groceries — And It's Probably Not The One You Think

The money people have been spending on groceries has been top-of-mind over the last five years as prices keep rising, and one surprising state is getting the worst of it. The brutal combination of rising labor costs, commodity costs, and supply chain disruptions post-pandemic has pushed food prices up by a whopping 31% since 2019, and the threat of the Trump Administration's steep tariffs could make grocery bills even worse. This has had a direct effect on how Americans eat, with Pew reporting that the percent of food insecure households rose by 30% from 2020 to 2023. If you were to ask people where this problem is the worst they might guess Hawaii or California, which have some of the highest grocery prices in the country, but that's wrong. According to a new report from WalletHub, the state that spends the most on groceries is Mississippi.

How is that possible? Well, what you spend on groceries has two important data points. One is prices, where Cali and Hawaii are indeed high, but the other is your income. Examining the prices of 26 key grocery staples and comparing that to the median income of each state, WalletHub found that the low wages in Mississippi are causing the state's residents to shell out a national high of 2.64% of their income on groceries. This is because Mississippi has the lowest median income in the country, at only $27,205, according to World Population Review.

If you look at the range of grocery prices, you see how the much more varied income levels of each state change the math on buying food. World Population Review's food price index compares the average cost of groceries in states, with 100 being set as the nationwide average. California has average prices at 111.7, meaning 11.7% higher than normal, while Mississippi's price level is 96.3 — Mississippi's groceries are only 86% the price of California's. However, incomes in the Golden State are almost double those in Mississippi, more than making up for the difference in price levels. While you might be amazed by Mississippi having some of the lowest fast food prices for a state, you wouldn't want locals' wages.

This pattern plays out in other low income states, with West Virginia and Arkansas spending the second- and third-most on essential food staples while ranking 49th and 47th in income, respectively. Kentucky and Louisiana round out the top five of highest grocery costs. This data shows up in food insecurity as well, with Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Kentucky all being in the top six. While it can be easy to marvel at the low prices people in some states pay for food, the reality is that the reason those prices are so low is mostly because they are making less money.