Family Calculators
Family grocery budget.
Choose a USDA food plan and enter how many people are in each age and sex group. You get the plan's weekly, monthly and yearly food-at-home cost and the cost per person, in US dollars. Runs in your browser; nothing is sent or stored.
Your numbers
Result
Fill the form and press Calculate.
USDA publishes monthly costs of food at home by age and sex at four price levels. For August 2026 a family of four (two adults aged 19 to 50, children aged 6 to 8 and 9 to 11) costs about $1,023.70 a month on the Thrifty plan and $1,388.20 on the Moderate-cost plan, in US dollars.
US figures. These are US average prices in US dollars for meals and snacks prepared at home, from USDA. Canadian prices differ, so treat the result as a guide to how cost changes with age and household size, not a Canadian grocery budget.
Worked example
Two adults aged 19 to 50, one child aged 6 to 8 and one aged 9 to 11 on the Moderate-cost plan. The four-person household needs no adjustment, so the plan costs $1,388.20 a month ($320.50 a week, $16,658.40 a year), $347.05 per person. On the Thrifty plan the same family is $1,023.70 a month. A single woman aged 19 to 50 on the Moderate plan is $336.10, plus the 20% one-person adjustment, $403.32 a month.
How it works
For each group the page uses USDA's published weekly and monthly cost, multiplied by the head-count and summed. The total is then multiplied by USDA's household-size adjustment: 1 person +20%, 2 people +10%, 3 people +5%, 4 people none, 5 or 6 people -5%, 7 or more people -10%. Weekly and monthly totals use USDA's own rounded figures (to 10 cents), and the weekly total is the sum of USDA's rounded per-person figures; yearly is monthly x 12. Per person is the adjusted total divided by household members.
Sources
Official USDA Thrifty Food Plan: U.S. Average, August 2026, USDA Food and Nutrition Administration and Official USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home at Three Levels, U.S. Average, August 2026 (issued September 2026), both listed at USDA Food Plans: Monthly Cost of Food Reports. Opened 2026-10-08. USDA states that all meals and snacks are prepared at home and that the costs are for individuals in 4-person households, with the size adjustments used here. The Thrifty reference family of four is listed at $1,023.70 a month.
FAQ
How much should a family spend on groceries?
USDA's August 2026 food plans put a family of four (two adults, children aged 6 to 8 and 9 to 11) at $1,023.70 a month on the Thrifty plan and $1,388.20 on the Moderate-cost plan, in US dollars. Actual spending depends on where you live and what you eat.
Why do the costs change with household size?
USDA's figures are for people in 4-person households, and it suggests adding 20% for one person, 10% for two and 5% for three, and subtracting 5% for five or six and 10% for seven or more.
Does this include eating out?
No. USDA states that the plans assume all meals and snacks are prepared at home.
Are these Canadian prices?
No. They are US average prices in US dollars. Use them to see how costs scale with age, sex and household size, then compare with your own receipts.
Which plan should I pick?
The plans are successively higher cost levels, Thrifty, Low-cost, Moderate-cost and Liberal. Thrifty is the lowest. Choose the one closest to your real spending.
Why is there no row for babies under 1?
USDA's tables start at 1 year for children, so this calculator does too.