The Real Cost of Grocery Shopping in Louisiana Amid Inflation

Inflation has made pretty much everything at least a little more expensive, and it continues to grow without much end in sight. Inflation in America hit 3%, which is the highest it's been since June of 2023 under then President Biden. One item that gets hit with inflation the hardest is groceries, so in Louisiana how bad has inflation hurt our grocery shopping?

By analyzing the prices of 26 different common grocery store products (examples: dairy, vegetables, fruits, frozen foods, etc.) and comparing the costs to the average income of that state's residents, WalletHub was able to conduct a study to determine how much each state is really paying for their grocery trips.

Louisiana Residents Pay More For Groceries

The average household in America spends about 1.99% of their monthly household income on groceries, more affordable states like New Jersey pay only 1.5% of their income on food while others like Mississippi pay over 2.5% to keep themselves fed.

In Louisiana the average household spends 2.39% of their monthly income on food. That's more than 45 other states that pay less for their monthly groceries, than the Boot State.

Louisiana households spending so much of their money on groceries isn't because groceries are so expensive in Louisiana, while inflation has caused the prices of foods to rise residents spend so much of their income on food because Louisiana has a low median household income, $57,852. State's like Mississippi have similar issues, spending 2.64% of their household income on food, while their median income sits at $52,985.

Makes sense right? If you make $4,821 but spend $96 per month on groceries that would be 2% of your income. But lets say you live in a state where you make $5,000 and spend the same $96 a month on good you'll only be spending 1.95%.