Survey: Detroit Tops List of Cities With Expensive Groceries

According to WalletHub's recent report, Cities Where People Spend the Most & Least on Groceries, Detroit citizens pay a higher percentage of their household income on groceries than other cities across the country.

"People in Detroit spend the most on groceries, which have an average cost of over 4% of the median household income, the highest percentage in the country," said Chris Lupo, WalletHub analyst. "For comparison, Fremont, California, residents spend an average of less than 1% of their income on groceries, the lowest percentage."

The personal-finance company's report examines which U.S. cities offer the least affordable grocery bills relative to what residents earn.

"In the cities where people spend the most money on groceries, residents often have low incomes on top of seeing high sticker prices on common grocery items," Lupo said.

To identify the cities where groceries take up the biggest share of household income, WalletHub compared the prices of 26 everyday grocery items in 100 of the nation's largest cities. Researchers then measured the total cost of those items against median household income in each city.

Highest % of income spent

1. Detroit (4.03%)

2. Cleveland (3.93%)

3. Birmingham, Alabama (3.45%)

4. Toledo, Ohio (3.20%)

5. Newark, New Jersey (3.15%)

6. Baton Rouge, Louisiana (3.11%)

7. Buffalo, New York (3.10%)

8. Memphis, Tennessee (3.07%)

9. Cincinnati, Ohio (3.05%)

10. Hialeah, Florida (2.99%)

Lowest % of income spent

91. Scottsdale, Arizona (1.46%)

92. Plano, Texas (1.46%)

93. Seattle (1.44%)

94. Huntington Beach, California (1.42%)

95. Santa Clarita, California (1.34%)

96. Gilbert, Arizona (1.32%)

97. Irvine, California (1.21%)

98. San Francisco (1.10%)

99. San Jose, California (1.07%)

100. Fremont, California (0.91%)

To view the full report, click here.