Coffee is a daily habit for most American adults and a major part of the U.S. food-service economy. In January 2025, 66% of American adults drank coffee in the past day, and coffee drinkers consumed an average of 3 cups per day. The figures below cover consumer behavior, preparation, equipment, industry impact, and the reported scale of leading cafe chains.
Contents
- Coffee consumption in the United States
- Specialty and traditional coffee
- Where people prepare and buy coffee
- Coffee equipment at home
- Coffee’s U.S. economic impact
- Starbucks store and sales statistics
- Dutch Bros growth and operating costs
Coffee consumption in the United States
The National Coffee Association’s Spring 2025 National Coffee Data Trends release reported that 66% of American adults drank coffee during the past day in January 2025. Among American coffee drinkers, average consumption was 3 cups per day. Coffee represented 8% of the U.S. food-service sector in the same release.
The past-day figure describes a recent consumption window rather than an annual average. It also measures American adults, not the entire population. Together, the two measures show both the reach of coffee and the frequency of the habit: roughly two-thirds of adults reported drinking it recently, while drinkers averaged several cups each day.
Coffee consumption also includes different beverage categories. In January 2025, 46% of American adults had specialty coffee in the past day, while 42% had traditional coffee. These categories are not presented as mutually exclusive counts of adults, so their percentages should not be added together as a total share of the population.
The longer trend points toward specialty coffee. Past-day specialty coffee consumption rose from 39% in 2020 to 46% in 2025, according to the Spring 2025 NCDT release. Traditional coffee moved in the other direction over that period, from 43% in 2020 to 42% in 2025.
Specialty and traditional coffee
The NCA’s 2025 Specialty Coffee Report provides more detail on how the two categories differ. Thirty-five percent of past-day specialty coffee drinkers had their coffee prepared out of home, compared with 20% of past-day traditional coffee drinkers. At home, the corresponding shares were 74% for specialty coffee drinkers and 87% for traditional coffee drinkers.
The preparation split is useful for understanding cafe demand. Specialty coffee drinkers were more likely than traditional coffee drinkers to have coffee prepared out of home, although most in both groups still had coffee prepared at home. The source reports 61% of specialty coffee drinkers saying coffee is good for their health; this is a view reported by respondents, not a medical finding.
Past-day espresso-based beverage consumption increased from 24% in 2020 to 28% in 2025. Non-espresso-based beverage consumption increased from 12% to 17% over the same period. In the 2025 Specialty Coffee Report, 43% of American adults enjoyed an espresso-based beverage in the past week, and 28% enjoyed a non-espresso-based beverage in the past week. These are different measurement windows, so the past-day and past-week figures should be kept separate.
The regional data in that report shows that 58% of adults in the U.S. West drank specialty coffee in the past week. That geography is the West, not the United States as a whole.
Among past-day specialty coffee drinkers, 59 of every 100 cups consumed were specialty coffee and 41 of every 100 cups were traditional coffee in 2025. The same report found that 36% preferred drip coffee as their preparation method. Medium roast was preferred by 62% of past-day specialty coffee drinkers, and medium-roast preference was up 35% since 2020.
The Specialty Coffee Report also states that past-day specialty coffee consumption was up 84% since 2011. This is a reported change over the source’s comparison period; it does not establish a particular annual growth rate.
Where people prepare and buy coffee
The Spring 2025 NCDT release found that 71% of past-day coffee drinkers prepared coffee at home only. Another 16% prepared coffee out of home only, while 13% prepared coffee both at home and out of home. These three reported groups describe preparation patterns among past-day coffee drinkers.
Buying behavior was distributed across several channels. Forty percent of past-day coffee drinkers bought coffee at a grocery store in 2025, and 29% bought it at a mass merchandiser. Ten percent bought coffee at a club store, 5% bought it at a coffee shop, and 14% bought it online.
Online buying doubled in the comparison shown by the NCDT release: 14% of past-day coffee drinkers bought coffee online in 2025, up from 7% in 2020. The channel percentages should not be treated as a single exclusive market-share chart, because a coffee drinker can use more than one buying channel.
The preparation figures and purchase figures answer different questions. A person may prepare coffee at home but buy beans, grounds, or ready-to-drink products through a grocery store, mass merchandiser, club store, coffee shop, or online retailer. That distinction helps explain why at-home preparation can coexist with a broad commercial cafe and retail market.
Coffee equipment at home
Home equipment ownership shows how varied preparation can be. In 2025, 62% of American adults had a drip coffee maker at home, making it the most widely reported equipment category in the NCDT release. Forty-two percent had a single-cup brewer, and 35% had instant coffee at home.
Other equipment categories had smaller but still notable shares. Fifteen percent of American adults had a bean-to-cup machine at home. French presses and espresso machines were each reported by 12% of adults. Eleven percent had a slow-drip cold brew setup, while 6% had a pour-over coffee maker.
| Home coffee item | Share of American adults in 2025 |
|---|---|
| Drip coffee maker | 62% |
| Single-cup brewer | 42% |
| Instant coffee at home | 35% |
| Bean-to-cup machine | 15% |
| French press | 12% |
| Espresso machine | 12% |
| Slow-drip cold brew setup | 11% |
| Pour-over coffee maker | 6% |
These are ownership or availability measures reported for American adults, not percentages of coffee drinkers and not estimates of how often each item was used. The categories can overlap: one household or adult may have several types of equipment.
Coffee’s U.S. economic impact
The NCA Coffee Economic Impact report states that the coffee industry supported more than 2.2 million U.S. jobs in 2022. It also reports $343.2 billion in total economic impact in the United States in 2022, more than $100 billion in wages per year, and nearly $110 billion in coffee-product spending per year in 2022.
Consumers spent more than $300 million per day on coffee products in 2022, according to the same report. This daily spending figure and the nearly $110 billion annual spending figure are both source-reported measures; no additional conversion or reconciliation is applied here.
The industry’s international supply chain is reflected in the report’s import estimate. Every $1 of coffee imported into the United States created an estimated $43 in value domestically. The word “estimated” matters: this is an economic-impact estimate, not a direct retail markup or a guaranteed return for every imported dollar.
The United States produced less than 1% of the coffee consumed domestically in the report’s stated measure. The figure describes domestic production relative to domestic consumption and underscores the importance of imported coffee to the U.S. market.
Starbucks store and sales statistics
Starbucks’ fiscal 2024 annual report counted 40,199 stores worldwide as of September 29, 2024. Of those, 21,018 were company-operated stores and 19,181 were licensed stores. Starbucks reported 18,424 stores in North America and 21,775 stores in International markets at that date.
Company-operated stores represented 52% of the global store base, while licensed stores represented 48%. The revenue mix was different: company-operated stores accounted for 82% of total net revenues in fiscal 2024, and licensed stores accounted for 12%. Starbucks’ consolidated net revenues were $36.2 billion in fiscal 2024.
| Starbucks measure | Reported result | Period or date |
|---|---|---|
| Global stores | 40,199 | September 29, 2024 |
| Company-operated stores | 21,018 | September 29, 2024 |
| Licensed stores | 19,181 | September 29, 2024 |
| Consolidated net revenues | $36.2 billion | Fiscal 2024 |
| Company-operated share of stores | 52% | September 29, 2024 |
| Licensed share of stores | 48% | September 29, 2024 |
Regional performance in fiscal 2024 was mixed. North America revenue increased 2%, and U.S. revenue also increased 2%. International revenue declined 2%. Comparable store sales declined 2% in both North America and the United States, while International comparable store sales declined 4%. North America average ticket grew 4%, whereas International average ticket declined 4%.
Starbucks’ Q1 FY2025 earnings release reported a further-quarter snapshot. Global comparable store sales declined 4%, global comparable transactions declined 6%, and global average ticket increased 3%. Starbucks opened 377 net new stores and ended the quarter with 40,576 stores worldwide. The quarter ended with 53% company-operated stores and 47% licensed stores.
At the end of Q1 FY2025, Starbucks had 17,049 stores in the United States and 7,685 stores in China. U.S. comparable store sales declined 4%, driven alongside an 8% decline in comparable transactions and a 4% increase in average ticket. China comparable store sales declined 6%, comparable transactions declined 2%, and average ticket declined 4%.
Q1 FY2025 North America net revenues were $7.0719 billion, compared with $1.8713 billion for International. North America operating margin was 16.7%, and International operating margin was 12.7%. Starbucks Rewards had 34.6 million 90-day active U.S. members in that quarter.
Dutch Bros growth and operating costs
Dutch Bros’ 2024 Annual Report counted 982 shops in operation as of December 31, 2024, across 18 U.S. states. The chain had 670 company-operated shops and 312 franchised shops. Its total shop count increased 18.2% in 2024, while total revenue increased 32.6%.
Dutch Bros generated $1.3 billion of revenue in 2024 and reported $66.5 million of net income, or $0.34 in diluted earnings per share. It opened 128 new company-operated shops during the year. Company-operated shop revenue was $1.16583 billion.
The annual report also itemized major company-operated shop costs. Beverage, food, and packaging costs were $296.752 million; labor costs were $315.805 million; occupancy and other costs were $191.372 million; and pre-opening costs were $15.133 million. Pre-opening costs per new company-operated shop were reported at $118,000.
Company-operated shop gross profit was $259.959 million, and company-operated shop contribution was $346.768 million. Dutch Bros held 65.1% of the economic interest in Dutch Bros OpCo as of December 31, 2024. These figures describe the company’s reported 2024 operations and should not be generalized to every independent cafe.