Who Spends the Most on Coffee?

Before we get to the demographics of coffee spending, let’s examine our own coffee drinking habits? How many cups of coffee do you drink each day? What kind of coffee do you drink? Do you go to a coffee shop regularly? If so, which one? What’s your ‘usual’ when you go to a coffee shop? How much do you pay for it? What kind of coffee machine do you own and how much did it cost?

Let’s talk numbers

The next step is to put a figure on all these factors. Having done that, you can with some accuracy calculate how much money you spend on coffee a month. Multiply it by 12, and you’ve got your total coffee spending per annum. If you’re a coffee drinker, the sum may astound you.

It’s highly likely you’re going to tell yourself to go back to the drawing board because something must be wrong here. Do it as many times as you like, but the total won’t change! Looking at the total figure you’ve calculated, you’ll be telling yourself you spend an ASTRONOMICAL amount on money on coffee!

You’re not alone

As a coffee drinker, you’re in the majority. An Amerisleep poll of 1,008 coffee drinkers found that up to 79% of coffee drinkers say they drink at least one cup a day. The emphasis is on AT LEAST. It’s clear that people need their coffee fix more than once a day.

On average, 400 million cups of coffee are made and consumed daily in the U.S. There are 250 million adults in America. That alone suggests that most people have more than a single cup of coffee a day.

Broken down by industry, coffee consumption statistics show interesting trends. The industries in which most cups of coffee are consumed are wholesale, retail,  hotel, food services, and hospitality.

Workers in these industries drink 3.5 cups of coffee per day on average. Manufacturing came in at 3.4 cups, construction at 3.3 cups, and information services and data processing at 3.1 cups.

What’s your coffee habit about?

In the Amerisleep poll, people were asked about their coffee drinking habit and what drives it. They had to choose between two reasons for drinking coffee. Was it for the taste or for the caffeine effects? 42.9% of coffee drinkers said they drink that cup of java because they like the taste.

48.4% of the people polled said the caffeine in coffee was their primary motivator. Of this 48.4%, here’s a further breakdown of their motivations. 26.2% said coffee gives them energy. 12.1% said coffee helps to keep them awake. 10.1% said they drink coffee as it helps them to stay focused.

A lot of people might argue that their reasons for drinking coffee are a combination of the two. That makes sense, but there can be only one primary driver. Have you given thought to what your primary driver to drink coffee is? Is it the taste or the boost? What other reasons might there be for drinking coffee? Adding up the two results, 91.3% ascribed their habit to taste or energy boost.

What possible reason could the other 8.7% have to drink coffee? It’s possible some people drink coffee because they feel it’s socially acceptable. They drink it because it’s expected of them, not because they like the taste or find it makes them more energetic. It’s hard being the office hold-out who piously refuses coffee. Sometimes, it’s easier to go with the flow.

A lot of students, freelancers, and sales representatives visit coffee shops so they can use the wi-fi to access the internet! It’s not that they enjoy the taste or find it energizing. They need a place to work, and they can’t sit in a coffee shop without ordering something.

These two groups of people must fit into the ‘other’ category that the poll allowed for. They make up a total of 3.3% of drinkers.

5.4% of people said they drink coffee to treat themselves. This means that while a lot of us see a spa day as a treat, some prefer a cup of coffee.

Who spends the most money on coffee?

Are you a millennial? That puts you in the age group of 25-34 years of age. If so, you’re in the demographic that spends the most money on coffee a year. On average, it’s a whopping $2,008 per annum. The next group of big spenders is in the group aged 35-44. They spend $1,410 on coffee each year. All other age demographics spend below $400 on coffee annually.

By gender, the average spend on coffee varies. A woman is likely to spend on average $2,327 on coffee. Her male counterpart’s average bill is $1,934.

By industry, the people who spend the most money on coffee from a coffee shop are in finance and insurance. They spend an average of $709 on coffee from coffee shops each year.

Interestingly, how is it that according to the poll workers in the hotel, food services, and hospitality workers spend $278 on average at coffee shops? After all, they drink on average 3.5 cups of coffee daily. It must be all the ‘freebies’ they get at their workplaces!

Is it time to slash the bill?

Upon establishing their annual coffee bill and recovering from the shock, a lot of people decide to change their habits to save some money. Amerisleep’s poll of 1,008 coffee drinkers said quantifying their spending on coffee had a sobering effect.

Some millennials were shocked to discover they were spending more money on coffee than they were on saving for their retirement. All in the name of enjoyment or energization. By age 25, retirement savings plans should already be in place. This is to ensure a comfortable retirement with a decent-sized nest egg.

This is food for thought for millennials who up until now may not have been aware of how much they spend on coffee. Many will take it as an opportunity to look at their coffee spending and find ways to save money on coffee.