If there’s one thing Americans can’t live without, it’s our coffee. We want it so badly that we’re actually willing to spend as much on coffee as we do on necessities such as commuting to and from our jobs and electricity for our homes.
So, how much do Americans spend on coffee?
A recent study shows that the average American trifles away $1,092 a year on coffee — not far off from the $1,476 we spend on getting to and from work. Not surprisingly, age plays a large role in what people will pay for coffee, and it just happens to be that the Starbucks generation (18-34) are putting out the most: a whopping $24.76 per week. Older folks, specifically 45 and above, are spending approximately $10 less per week on their coffee, quite possibly because they don’t buy into the whole venti-vanilla-soy-latte-with-extra-whip-luxury-coffee-thing, or because they don’t have the same expendable income that singles in their 20’s and early 30’s do.
Whatever the discrepancy may be, 52 percent of us (that’s 100 million American adults!) are still drinking approximately 70 gallons of coffee each year, regardless of how much we are paying for it. And the good news is — depending on which source you read — it apparently has many health benefits. So for the bargain price of $1,092 per year, not only are we preventing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s, but we are also getting that morning jolt that sails us off to work so that we can pay for this very expensive, but oh-so-worth-it beverage.
Photo by: antwerpenR/Flickr
Weigh In: How Much do You Spend Per Week on Coffee?