Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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FINANCE

The Claim

The average American household spends more per month on cable TV and streaming subscriptions combined than on groceries.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

This claim is false. BLS-based data consistently shows the average American household spends roughly $504–$519 per month on groceries. Combined cable TV and streaming costs top out at approximately $153–$278 per month — less than half the grocery bill. The higher "media spending" figures sometimes cited (~$280/month) include internet and mobile services, not just cable and streaming. Even using the most generous estimates, cable plus streaming doesn't come close to matching grocery expenditures for the average household.

Caveats

  • Higher 'media spending' figures (~$280/month) often bundle internet and mobile services — isolating cable TV and streaming yields significantly lower totals.
  • Only about 51% of U.S. households subscribe to cable TV, so per-subscriber cable costs overstate the true average across all households.
  • Some cited subscription spending figures include all subscription types (meal kits, software, etc.), not just cable and streaming services.

The Receipts

  1. Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Release Date: 2025-12-19 - ALFRED | St. Louis Fed

    St. Louis Fed

  2. Average Grocery Cost per Month: Smart Budgeting Tips | PocketGuard

    PocketGuard

  3. Report: Streaming Price Hikes Push Annual U.S. Media Spending to $3,350 - EIN Presswire

    EIN Presswire

  4. The State of Consumer Media Spending 2025: How Much Are Americans Paying to Stay Connected? | Reviews.org

    Reviews.org

  5. Streaming Subscriptions Reach 91% of U.S. Internet Households - TV Tech

    TV Tech

  6. Food inflation will cool in 2026 but grocery bills may continue to rise

    FoodNavigator-USA

  7. Cable Tv: Data Reports 2026 - WifiTalents

    WifiTalents

  8. The State of TV 2026: Streaming Is King, but Cable Wants Its Crown Back

    CableTV.com

  9. How many U.S. households have cable TV? (Q3 2025) - Adwave

    Adwave

  10. Subscription Spending Statistics (2026): How Much Are You Really Paying? - JustCancel.io

    JustCancel.io

+ 7 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

United States

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