The grocery habits of higher-income Americans

Key findings: 

• Costco is more likely to be the supermarket where higher-income Americans do most of their grocery shopping (11% vs 5%), while Walmart Supercenter is more commonly the primary grocery retailer among middle-and-lower-income Americans (20% vs 8%). 
• Half (51%) of higher-income Americans say their household spends more than $150 per week on groceries, compared with 28% of middle-and-lower-income Americans.

Higher-income Americans make up a relatively small share of the population (10%), but their shopping habits reveal some notable differences in how they approach grocery spending, where they shop, and what they buy beyond food.

Using YouGov Profiles data, we compared higher-income Americans with middle-and-lower-income Americans to understand how the two groups differ in their supermarket preferences, purchasing habits, and weekly grocery spending.

Insight #1: Costco and Trader Joe’s drive the difference among higher-income Americans

Costco is the supermarket that most clearly differentiates higher-income Americans from other income groups. More than one in ten (11%) higher-income Americans say it is the supermarket where they do most of their grocery shopping, compared with 5% of middle-and-lower-income Americans.

Insight #2: Higher-income Americans make grocery runs more often

Higher-income Americans tend to shop for groceries somewhat more frequently than middle-and-lower-income Americans. Around a third (34%) say they shop several times a week, compared with 25% of middle-and-lower-income Americans. They are also less likely to shop only several times a month (18% vs 24%).

Insight #3: Higher-income Americans spend more on groceries

The larger difference, however, is in weekly grocery spending. Half (51%) of higher-income Americans say their household spends more than $150 per week on groceries, compared with 28% of middle-and-lower-income Americans.

Methodology: 

YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data through rolling surveys, rather than a single limited questionnaire. Figures are drawn from responses collected between June 2025and June 2026, using a 52-week dataset updated weekly. Data is nationally representative of adults (18+) in the US and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race.

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