Americans spend less of their income on food than almost ever. Why doesn’t it feel that way?

Grocery prices are a current measure of Engel’s Law. | Osaka Wayne Studios/Getty Images

Everything about the American economy right now feels weird. The hiring picture is weird; the stock market is weird; and AI infusion into work is very, very weird. 

But here’s a number that, if you think hard enough, is stranger — at least historically — than all the rest: 10.4 percent.

That’s the share of their disposable income that Americans spent on food in 2024, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service.