Coffee remains a routine part of daily life for most American adults, but coffee shop customer behavior is more varied than a simple daily cup. The National Coffee Association (NCA) measured daily coffee use, specialty coffee, preparation location, drink formats, and attitudes during 2024 and 2025. Starbucks company results add a customer and store-level view, including U.S. Rewards membership, comparable transactions, and store counts.
Table of contents
- Daily coffee use in the United States
- Specialty coffee and age differences
- At-home and out-of-home preparation
- Drink formats, equipment, and roast preferences
- Why customers say coffee matters
- Starbucks Rewards customers and store activity
Daily coffee use in the United States
The NCA Spring 2025 National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) found that 66% of American adults drank coffee each day in spring 2025. Coffee was the leading beverage choice among American adults in that measurement, ahead of tea, juice, soda, and bottled water. The NCA’s April 15, 2025 newsroom report also found that American coffee drinkers averaged 3 cups per day.
The spring 2024 NCDT recorded a slightly higher past-day measure: 67% of American adults had coffee in the past day. That report said past-day coffee consumption in spring 2024 was 37% higher than in 2004, when 49% of American adults had coffee in the past day. These figures use different survey periods and should be read as benchmarks across time rather than as a count of coffee shop visits.
For readers evaluating a coffee shop audience, the main signal is the breadth of the category. In spring 2025, roughly two-thirds of American adults were daily coffee drinkers, while the longer comparison shows a larger past-day coffee audience than the NCA recorded in 2004. Daily use establishes a large potential customer base, but it does not by itself show how many cups were purchased away from home.
| NCA measure | Result | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| American adults drinking coffee each day | 66% | Spring 2025 |
| American adults with coffee in the past day | 67% | Spring 2024 |
| American adults with coffee in the past day | 49% | 2004 |
| Average cups among American coffee drinkers | 3 cups per day | April 2025 |
Source labels: NCA Spring 2025 NCDT; NCA Spring 2024 NCDT; NCA newsroom, April 15, 2025.
Specialty coffee and age differences
Specialty coffee represented a substantial share of coffee use in the NCA Specialty Coffee Report for June 2025. The report found that 46% of American adults had specialty coffee in the past day. It also reported that specialty coffee past-day consumption was up 84% versus 2011. Traditional coffee reached 42% of American adults in the past day during the same June 2025 measurement.
Age was an important part of the specialty-coffee picture. Among adults ages 25 to 39, 64% drank specialty coffee in the past week in June 2025. That weekly measure is not directly interchangeable with the 46% past-day measure for all American adults, but it shows particularly broad recent specialty-coffee participation among this age group.
The NCA Fall 2024 NCDT separately reported that specialty coffee reached 45% of Americans in the past day. The two NCA releases therefore place specialty coffee at about the mid-40-percent level, while using different survey periods. A coffee shop menu aimed at specialty drinkers is serving a large part of the coffee audience, but the data does not identify individual drink preferences or purchase frequency.
The June 2025 Specialty Coffee Report also measured beverage families. In the past week, 43% of American adults had an espresso-based beverage and 28% had a non-espresso-based beverage. Those categories overlap with broader coffee habits and are weekly measures, so they describe reach rather than a single customer segment.
At-home and out-of-home preparation
The NCA Specialty Coffee Report shows that at-home preparation remained more common than out-of-home preparation in June 2025. Among past-day specialty coffee drinkers, 74% had their coffee prepared at home and 35% had it prepared out of home. Among past-day traditional coffee drinkers, 87% had their coffee prepared at home and 20% had it prepared out of home.
These percentages describe preparation settings reported by drinkers and should not be added together as if they were mutually exclusive customer groups. The difference between specialty and traditional coffee is still useful: specialty coffee drinkers reported out-of-home preparation more often than traditional coffee drinkers in that NCA measurement, while home preparation was common for both.
The NCA Fall 2024 NCDT found that 81% of past-day coffee drinkers had coffee at home and 36% had coffee out of home. Again, the measures can overlap. A customer who drinks coffee at home in the morning may also buy a drink from a coffee shop later in the day. For coffee businesses, this means the at-home share is not equivalent to a permanently lost out-of-home customer.
| Preparation measure | Result | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Specialty coffee drinkers with coffee prepared at home | 74% | June 2025 |
| Specialty coffee drinkers with coffee prepared out of home | 35% | June 2025 |
| Traditional coffee drinkers with coffee prepared at home | 87% | June 2025 |
| Traditional coffee drinkers with coffee prepared out of home | 20% | June 2025 |
| Past-day coffee drinkers with coffee at home | 81% | Fall 2024 |
| Past-day coffee drinkers with coffee out of home | 36% | Fall 2024 |
Source labels: NCA Specialty Coffee Report; NCA Fall 2024 NCDT.
Drink formats, equipment, and roast preferences
Cold brew was consumed by 21% of Americans in the past week in fall 2024, according to the NCA Fall 2024 NCDT. The report said cold brew past-week consumption was up more than 30% versus January 2024. This is a growth comparison for weekly consumption, not a forecast of future sales.
Ready-to-drink coffee was another notable format. In fall 2024, RTD coffee accounted for 18% of past-day coffee drinkers, and past-day RTD coffee consumption had more than doubled versus 2023. The NCA result identifies a strong change in reported reach, but it does not specify the absolute 2023 percentage.
Preparation equipment remained led by familiar formats. Drip coffee makers accounted for 36% of past-day coffee drinkers in fall 2024, while single-cup brewers accounted for 24%. In the June 2025 Specialty Coffee Report, 36% of past-day specialty coffee drinkers preferred drip coffee maker preparation.
Roast preference also had a clear leader. Sixty-two percent of past-day specialty coffee drinkers preferred medium roast in June 2025. The NCA report said medium roast preference was up 35% versus 2020. This preference figure applies to past-day specialty coffee drinkers, not to every American adult or every coffee shop customer.
The NCA Specialty Coffee Report’s regional result adds another dimension: 58% was the West’s past-week specialty coffee consumption in June 2025. Because the supplied result identifies the region and period but not a broader regional table, it is best used as a specific West benchmark rather than as a national average.
Why customers say coffee matters
Coffee’s role is not limited to taste or routine. In the NCA Fall 2024 NCDT, 51% of Americans said coffee is good for their health. Sixty-six percent said coffee improves mental focus, and 46% said it improves physical endurance. These are reported opinions, not clinical findings or proof that coffee produces those outcomes.
The same fall 2024 NCDT found that 48% of Americans had heard information about coffee health benefits during the prior year. That result helps explain why health and performance claims may be visible in coffee conversations, but it does not show which claims people heard, whether they believed them, or whether the information changed purchasing behavior.
For a coffee shop audience, these figures describe the ideas customers associate with the beverage. Mental focus was the most widely reported perceived benefit among the three listed measures, followed by health and physical endurance. The distinction between perception and measured health effect matters when describing coffee to readers or customers.
Starbucks Rewards customers and store activity
Starbucks company results provide a large-chain view of customer engagement. In Q1 FY24, 90-day active U.S. Starbucks Rewards membership totaled 34.3 million, up 13% year over year. U.S. card loads reached a record $3.6 billion in that quarter, and Starbucks ranked No. 2 among U.S. brands in holiday gift card activations. Starbucks had 38,587 stores at the end of Q1 FY24.
The company reported 5% global comparable store sales growth and 3% growth in global comparable transactions in Q1 FY24. North America comparable store sales rose 5%, while North America comparable transactions rose 1%. Comparable measures describe changes at comparable stores and are not the same as total store growth.
Results weakened in Q2 FY24. Global comparable store sales fell 4% and global comparable transactions fell 6%. North America comparable transactions fell 7%. Starbucks ended Q2 FY24 with 38,951 stores, including 16,600 in the U.S. and 7,093 in China. The U.S. and China together accounted for 61% of the company’s global portfolio at the end of that quarter.
The later FY24 results showed a mixed customer and footprint picture. Q4 FY24 active U.S. Starbucks Rewards membership totaled 33.8 million, up 4% year over year. Global comparable store sales declined 7%, global comparable transactions declined 8%, and North America comparable transactions declined 10%. Starbucks opened 722 net new stores in Q4 FY24 and ended the period with 40,199 stores: 18,424 in North America and 21,775 in international markets.
| Starbucks measure | Result | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Active U.S. Rewards membership | 34.3 million | Q1 FY24 |
| Active U.S. Rewards membership | 33.8 million | Q4 FY24 |
| Active U.S. Rewards membership | 34.6 million | Q1 FY25 |
| U.S. card loads | $3.6 billion | Q1 FY24 |
| Total stores | 40,199 | End of Q4 FY24 |
| U.S. stores | 17,049 | End of Q1 FY25 |
| China stores | 7,685 | End of Q1 FY25 |
In Q1 FY25, active U.S. Starbucks Rewards membership totaled 34.6 million, up 1% year over year and 2% quarter over quarter. Starbucks ended that quarter with 40,576 stores, including 17,049 in the U.S. and 7,685 in China. The company opened 377 net new stores in Q1 FY25.
At the same time, Q1 FY25 global comparable store sales declined 7% and global comparable transactions declined 4%. North America comparable store sales declined 4% and comparable transactions declined 8%. North America’s operating margin was 16.7%, down 390 basis points year over year. Together, these company results show why customer membership totals should be read alongside transaction trends: a large active member base can coexist with declining comparable transactions during a specific reporting period.
Source label for all Starbucks figures: Starbucks Q1 FY24 results, Starbucks Q2 FY24 results, Starbucks Q4 FY24 results, and Starbucks Q1 FY25 results.