Food budget by family size
A food budget by family size is the fastest sanity check on a monthly budget. The USDA prices four complete diets every month — Thrifty, Low-cost, Moderate and Liberal — for households of every size, and those four numbers tell you whether your grocery spend is tight, typical or generous.
Figures are monthly, at home, for June 2026. Source: USDA Food and Nutrition Service, USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food monthly report.
One adult, thrifty
$382
per month, food at home
Family of four, low-cost
$1,125
two adults, two children
Family of four, liberal
$1,678
the generous end of the range
| Household | Thrifty | Low-cost | Moderate | Liberal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1 adult) | $382 | $380 | $477 | $583 |
| 2 (2 adults) | $629 | $652 | $808 | $1,006 |
| 3 (2 adults 1 child) | $820 | $897 | $1,091 | $1,334 |
| 4 (2 adults 2 children) | $1,023 | $1,125 | $1,389 | $1,678 |
Alaska and Hawaii cost more
The national table covers the 48 contiguous states and DC. USDA publishes separate figures for Alaska and Hawaii; we apply them as multipliers against the national schedule.
| Region | Multiplier | Family of four, thrifty |
|---|---|---|
| 48 contiguous states and DC | ×1.0000 | $1,023 |
| Anchorage, Alaska | ×1.2671 | $1,296 |
| Urban Alaska | ×1.2771 | $1,307 |
| Rural Alaska I | ×1.6285 | $1,666 |
| Rural Alaska II | ×1.9820 | $2,028 |
| Hawaii | ×1.5209 | $1,556 |
Put the number to work: the budget calculator splits your take-home pay across groceries, housing and saving, and the federal poverty guidelines show whether your household qualifies for SNAP or other food assistance.
Methodology
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service publishes the Cost of Food at Home report monthly. It prices four nutritionally complete diets — Thrifty, Low-cost, Moderate and Liberal — using national average retail prices and the food quantities each plan specifies. We store the published household table as-is and show the most recent month we have ingested.
The household figures already include USDA's own adjustment for household size: one- and two-person households pay more per person, larger households less, because of the economies of buying and cooking in bulk.
The Thrifty plan is the basis for the maximum SNAP allotment, so it is the closest thing to a floor rather than a target. The Liberal plan is not extravagance; it is the same nutrition standard with more expensive foods.
Alaska and Hawaii figures are derived from USDA's separate release for those states, applied as a multiplier against the national reference family. No contiguous-states figure is ever shown for an Alaskan or Hawaiian household.
Sources: USDA Food and Nutrition Service, USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home (monthly); USDA Thrifty Food Plan Costs: Alaska and Hawaii. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2026.