The Food Expenditure Series (FES) is revised regularly as new source data become available, source agencies revise historical estimates, and classification systems are updated. These revisions improve the accuracy, consistency, and timeliness of the series and may affect both recent and historical estimates. Revisions may reflect: new annual survey data, new Economic Census benchmarks, changes in industry or product classifications, updated price and income data, or methodological improvements. This page compiles substantial updates and revisions to the FES since 2018 with most recent changs list first. See the Documentation for additional information about the methods and sources used to produce the FES.
June 2026
The Census Bureau’s 2023 Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES) was incorporated into the 2026 FES update. AIES is the Census Bureau’s integrated annual business survey and replaces several annual surveys previously used in FES. These include: the Annual Retail Trade Survey, Service Annual Survey, Annual Wholesale Trade Survey, and Annual Survey of Manufactures. Incorporating AIES keeps FES aligned with the current Census Bureau source data. Estimates beginning in 2021 were adjusted to align with the new survey benchmark.
The 2026 FES update revises the estimated share of sales allocated to food for warehouse clubs, supercenters, and other general merchandise retailers. These adjustments better align FES estimates with changes in retail industry classifications and improve the allocation of general merchandise sales to food-at-home outlets.
Beginning with the 2026 update, State-level FES estimates are benchmarked using Economic Census data every 5 years and are aligned with national sales totals annually. This update improves consistency across U.S. States and outlet categories. As a result, some historical State-level estimates may differ from previously published values.
Beginning with the 2026 update, constant-dollar estimates are expressed in 2025 dollars instead of 1988 dollars.
September 2025
The 2022 Economic Census introduced changes to industry and product classifications that were incorporated into the September 2025 FES update. Key changes included:
- Dissolution of the “Mail in Order and Home Delivery” NAICS codes (4541 and 45439). Sales previously assigned to this outlet for 1997 to 2024 were reallocated across food-at-home outlets, including convenience stores, other food stores, warehouse clubs and supercenters, other stores, and foodservice outlets.
- Incorporation of 2022 North American Product Classification System product lines, which provide data on the types of products sold by each outlet. These data were used to revise outlet-level food expenditure estimates for 2017 to 2024 in the 2025 FES update.
June 2025
In 2025, the Census Bureau revised the 2022 Annual Retail Trade Survey, resulting in updated estimates since 1997. The 2017 Economic Census eliminated the mass merchandisers category, previously classified under NAICS 452112. ERS first incorporated this change in the June 2022 FES update by reallocating sales from this category using ERS estimates. Updated Annual Retail Trade Survey data now reflect this reclassification directly in Census-published estimates, allowing FES to use Census source data for these reallocated sales rather than ERS-estimated allocations.
June 2024
In 2024, the Bureau of Economic Analysis revised its estimates for disposable personal income, resulting in the share of disposable personal income spent on food estimates in the FES changing each year since 1997.
Beginning with the 2024 revision, State-level FES uses a regression-based smoothing method to interpolate sales-per-employee ratios between Economic Census years. These ratios are used to estimate State-level sales from employment data when direct sales data are not available.
February 2024
ERS published an addendum to the State-level Food Expenditure Series and re-released the State-level FES estimates using updated source data. The original State-level FES estimates were based mainly on sales calculated using employment headcounts from the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) database. Because the NETS database was discontinued, ERS re-estimated the State-level FES using employment headcounts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). This change allows the State-level FES to be updated over time and does not substantially affect most estimates or trends.
May 2023
ERS introduced the State-level Food Expenditures Series, providing annual estimates of food expenditures by State and outlet type for all 50 U.S. States and the District of Columbia. The State-level FES follows a methodology similar to the national-level FES and expands the series by allowing users to compare food-at-home and food-away-from-home spending patterns across States.
February 2023
ERS introduced a monthly data set by outlet type. The new monthly series provides estimates for the three food-at-home outlet groups—supermarkets and other grocery stores, warehouse clubs and supercenters, and other food-at-home outlets—and three food-away-from-home outlet groups—full-service restaurants, limited-service restaurants, and other food-away-from-home outlets. Monthly food estimates are benchmarked to annual FES totals to maintain consistency between monthly and annual series.
June 2022
The 2017 Economic Census introduced changes to industry and product classifications that were incorporated into the 2022 FES update. Key changes included:
- Dissolution of the “Mass merchandisers” NAICS code (452112), with sales reallocated to warehouse clubs and supercenters, other stores, and foodservice outlets.
- Transition from Product Line codes to North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) product codes for calculating the share of sales devoted to food and beverages. Minor historical adjustments were made back to 2012 to maintain consistency with the updated product classification structure. The Census Bureau published a concordance document to link the product codes that were previously used to their NAPCS equivalent. The Census Bureau’s What’s New for 2017 Economic Census web page provides additional information.
2018 Revision
In 2018, ERS implemented a major revision to the FES to improve the accuracy, timeliness, and usability of the data. The revision is described in the ERS report: Food Expenditure Series: A Methodology for Estimating Food Expenditures in the United States.
The 2018 revision included:
- Incorporation of new source data and updated methods.
- Introduction of advance, revised, and final annual estimates.
- Reorganization of published tables.
- Benchmarking of the monthly sales series to the annual series.
- Establishment of a consistent timetable for data release.