Estimating the State-Level Food Expenditure Series

The USDA, Economic Research Service’s (ERS) Food Expenditure Series (FES) is a comprehensive measure of the total value of food acquired in the United States over time. FES provides users with data to evaluate changes in food spending and its composition; however, FES is limited to the national level. This report presents the methodology and data used to generate food expenditure estimates at the State level. The State-level FES follows a similar methodology used in the national level but with a different underlying dataset and benchmarked to the national-level estimates. The national-level estimates are based primarily on food sales reported in the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census’ Economic Census, which is published every 5 years, and uses three annual surveys to interpolate between years and extrapolate lagged data forward. The State-level FES estimates are based primarily on sales reported in the National Establishment Time Series Database. The database provides time-series data at the establishment level across all sectors, including grocery stores and food service outlets. The State-level FES can be used by government agencies, academics, the public, and other stakeholders to understand differences in consumer food acquisitions and spending behavior at a more granular level.