10 States Where People Eat Dinner Earliest
Where in the U.S. do people, on average, eat the earliest?
The pandemic threw everyone's schedules for a loop, and some of the changes seem semi-permanent. For example, according to recent headlines, in New York City—capital of the late dinner—some people are eating at 5:30 when they used to dine at 8. So where in the U.S. do average people eat the earliest? A new analysis looked at data from the American Time Use Survey to portion it out.
10
Oregon
In Oregon, peak dinnertime is 6:02 p.m.—17 minutes earlier than its southerly neighbor, California, which sits down to dinner around 6:19 p.m. on average.
9
Washington
Residents of the Evergreen State don't wait around too long for dinner. They sit down for their evening meal around 6:01 p.m.
8
New Mexico
New Mexico completes the six-way tie. Most residents have their evening meal at 6 p.m.
7
Alaska
Alaska may be a continent away from New Hampshire, but residents of both states sit down for dinner at the same time, on average: 6 p.m.
6
New Hampshire
Like its New England neighbor, New Hampshire's peak dinner time is 6 p.m.
5
North Dakota
In North Dakota, the peak dinner time is 6 p.m. sharp. Curiously, in South Dakota, residents sit down for the evening meal significantly later: 6:35 p.m. And most Nebraskans don't eat until 6:51 p.m., on average, the survey found.
4
Wyoming
The survey found that the average resident of the Cowboy State settles in for evening grub at 6 p.m.—20 minutes earlier than the national average.
3
Vermont
Vermont residents have dinner at 6 p.m., on average. Responses to the survey fell into one of the shortest windows nationwide, ranging from 5:45 p.m. to 6:51 p.m.
2
Maine
Residents of Maine sit down for their evening meal at 5:40, a full 20 minutes earlier than the neighboring state of New Hampshire. Maine's position as the northernmost state in the continental U.S.—with early sunsets in the winter—might have something to do with it.
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1
Pennsylvania
On average, Pennsylvanians eat dinner at 5:37 p.m. They're apparently uninfluenced by their proximity to New Yorkers, who have one of the nation's latest dinner times at 6:41.
