How far away do you drive for your weekly grocery shop?

34 comments

1. About 3 miles. Long trips like that are only normal in remote areas.

2. the closest grocery store to me is 1.1 miles but I am moving at the end of the month and then it will be .3 miles.

3. 3 miles

4. I live in a city and have a Trader Joe’s, Harris Teeter, and Whole Foods all within a 10 minute walk.

   I grew up in the country though. We had a Safeway 8 or so miles away but there was no traffic so it was a short drive

5. I live “out in the country” so I drive 20-30 minutes. I don’t know how many miles that is because where I’m from we relate distance to time and not miles/kilometers.

6. About 3 miles (5km) round trip

   In my hometown it was about 10 miles (16km) round trip.

   An hour to groceries is it normal but definitely not unheard of.

7. It’s within 5 miles.

8. I don’t own a car. I walk to the nearest store, about 20 minutes.

9. I don’t. We either have it delivered or walk to the store.

10. Depends. Most items it’s only a 10 min drive away in town. If I want to get specific items at say Publix or Whole Foods I have to drive 30-60 mins because our town doesn’t have either

11. No, that’s not common and would only happen in very rural areas. I have two grocery stores within 2 miles of my home and it takes me 5 minutes to drive there. Sometimes I’ll drive 12-15 minutes to other stores if I want something only that store carries.

12. I live in the San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles, and I can hit a grocery store in any direction in less than one mile. We are ripe for choice here.

13. Depends on where you live. I’m relatively close to my grocery store as it is only 1 mile away.

    My parents on the other hand are semi rural. They are 4 miles from the highway gas station convenience store, 8 miles from a dollar general, and 15 miles from a grocery store. It is just far enough where shopping trips require planning.

    Grandma is truly rural and is 30 miles from the nearest grocery store. “Going into town” is a weekly Saturday day trip.

14. 0.5 miles.

    Anything more than a 15 minute drive would seem like a huge nuisance to me.

15. 1.1 miles.

16. I have 3 grocery stores within 15 minutes of my house.

    Actually 5 if you count Walmart and the small one that only sells healthfood.

17. 50 miles one way, but we only go to town once a month for groceries.

18. Normal for me. The closest grocery store is a little over an hour away and it’s not very big so once a month we go even further to get to a Walmart. We also don’t go weekly. We get a lot on our once a month trip. And if we go to town for other stuff we’ll stop at the little grocery store.

19. Like maybe a mile. I walk there in the summer, not very far.

20. About 1.5 miles, I usually take my bicycle though. There is a neighborhood market a ~5 min walk away with surprisingly good product that I hit up when I need a thing or two. But pricy so not regular shopping.

    I go more like every 2-3 weeks and hit the farmers market in between for fresh produce. The one I go to most often is about the same distance.

21. 8 minute walk.

22. I walk down the block and across the street.

23. 30 minutes. I have a Walmart closer but fuck them. Terrible prices and selection.

    I drive 30 minutes to Market Basket, where they bag your stuff and will even help you load it in your car and has prices better or equal to Walmart.

24. An hour? That’s ridiculous, only in the most rural areas of lightly population. I’m in a rural forested area and I drive 20 miles, it takes 23 minutes to get a modern store with everything from kimchi to kombucha. There are closer, smaller stores but they’re more expensive.

25. I walk about 3 blocks to the grocery store. I live in Chicago.

26. Maybe .25 miles? I just moved to a place right next to a publix and a Teeter.

    Hour or more is common in really rural areas.

27. When we need just a couple items, we go to the local grocery store within our small town, about 1 mile away. When we need a larger grocery run, we’ll go every 3 weeks or so and it’s about a 40 minute drive. The groceries are significantly cheaper there and they have a lot more options to choose from.

28. I live in the suburbs, so about 5 minutes.

29. >I’ve heard people driving an hour or more to get groceries. Is that normal?

    Maybe in a rural area but certainly not the norm

30. An hour is extremely unusual for a typical shopping trip.

    Consider for a moment, that the furthest distance between two McDonald’s in the lower 50 states of the US is only 115mi. I can’t find the same data for Walmart, but we can assume that it’s probably less than double the same distance.

    In Alaska, the most rural parts of the north, or Texas, maybe.

    I’d bet that the people you’re talking about are talking about visiting a specific store, like Whole Foods or Costco instead of a regular grocery store.

31. My preferred store is 20 minutes away. But there is one about 5 minutes away.

32. Like .25 miles. I have 3 grocery stores in a 1 mile radius

33. Most people are going to live in close proximity to a store (and by close, I mean a 10-15 minute drive at the most). I grew up in the boonies of eastern NC back in the 70s-80s, it was about a half hour drive to the grocery store then. Now, I’m about 5 minutes away or less.

34. I walk a few blocks for most of my groceries, but every few weeks I go to Costco (30-45 minutes depending on traffic) to do a big haul. I live in Hawaii and food is EXPENSIVE – that trip to Costco really does save me a lot, plus they have discounted gas so I’m there anyway.