Big earners are big spenders on dining out

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 8, 1996

Spotlighting the country's biggest-spending cities, American Demographics recently reported disposable-income patterns for the top 15 metro markets.

Leading in overall spending on all dining-out occasions is Long Island, where an estimated $2,400 was spent annually, compared with the $1,800 national average. The report also noted that in 1973 nearly 64 percent of spending went toward food at home, but today that figure is 54 percent.

The study reveals San Jose, Calif., Middlesex/Somerset counties, N.J., and Anchorage, Alaska, as the top spenders in the dining-out category. In each market households dedicated more than 42 percent of their food dollars to meals away from home.