How Much Does the Average Person Spend on Food Delivery Per Month?

The number that gets cited most often is $130 per month, or about $1,566 per year. That’s the average American’s food delivery spending.

But averages are weird. That number includes people who ordered DoorDash once in December and people who order it every night. If you’re reading this article, you’re probably not the once-in-December type — and your actual number is likely a lot higher than $130.

Why That Average Doesn’t Mean Much

The $130 breaks down to about 3.7 orders per month at $35.42 each. Straightforward math. But the spread behind it is enormous — some people spend $200 a year, while heavy users are spending $5,000+.

The average doesn’t tell you where you fall. What’s more useful is looking at actual ordering patterns.

What People Actually Spend, by Ordering Pattern

A more honest way to think about it:

The occasional orderer grabs delivery once or twice a month — a birthday, a rough day, a night where cooking just isn’t happening. Monthly: under $50. Annual: $200-500.

The regular user orders 2-3 times a week. Long hours, living alone, or just a genuine preference. This is where the $130/month average actually lives, though most regular users are closer to $120-180. Annual: $1,500-2,100.

The heavy user orders 4+ times a week. Delivery isn’t a supplement — it’s the food plan. This group spends $300-500+ per month, and the heaviest users top $5,000 a year. They’re also the most likely to carry delivery subscriptions like DashPass or Uber One, which about 23.5% of delivery users have.

Most people have a general sense of which group they’re in. What they don’t usually know is the exact number — and the exact number is what actually changes how you think about it.

The Fee Stack You’re Not Thinking About

Part of why the real number surprises people is that delivery fees stack up in ways that are easy to ignore in the moment. A $15 meal at the restaurant becomes $26-27 by the time you add the delivery fee, service fee, small order fee, and tip. One analysis found delivery app prices can run up to 91% higher than ordering the same food in person.

You don’t notice it on any single order because each fee is small — $2.50 here, $3.99 there. But across a month of regular ordering, those fees add 50-90% to what you’d pay if you just picked the food up yourself.

Delivery subscriptions (DashPass, Uber One, Grubhub+) reduce some of those per-order fees, which is why about 23.5% of users have one. They make sense if you order a lot — but they also make ordering feel cheaper than it actually is, which tends to mean you order more often. It’s a trade-off worth being aware of.

Your Actual Number

You could dig through your DoorDash and Uber Eats order history, add up three months of totals, factor in fees and subscriptions, and calculate your real monthly average. Some people do that — and it’s usually an eye-opening exercise.

But it’s also tedious, which is part of why most people never do it. That’s exactly the problem we’re building Deliverless to solve: showing you your real number automatically, so you don’t have to do the math yourself.

Why Knowing the Number Matters

Spending $300+ a month on delivery doesn’t make you bad with money. You might have real reasons — exhaustion, a demanding schedule, a lifestyle where cooking doesn’t make sense right now.

But there’s a difference between choosing to spend that amount and not realizing you’re spending it. Knowing you’re at $350/month instead of the $130 average is the difference between autopilot and an actual decision. Maybe the number is fine with you. Maybe it changes something. Either way, it’s better to know.