Rank what matters most to you when choosing where to buy groceries: low prices, quality of fresh food, a short trip, a wide selection, or friendly service.
Summary
49% of adults put Low prices first when choosing where to buy groceries, compared with 42% for Quality of fresh food.
- 1Widest gap · education: 87 pts — people with a graduate degree were higher than people with some high school, and the gap is clear.
- 2The rest of the answers: 9% — a short trip was the only other factor regularly put first; A wide selection and Friendly service were each put first by 0%.
- 3How it settled: 1 pt — over the last 1000 profiles, the estimate moved less than its own margin of 2 pts, so the sample had settled.
These are synthetic profiles rather than real people, and comparable ranking answers sat a median 26 points from real people's within demographic groups and 16 points nationally.
The ranking
The average position given to each option, 1 being the top. The dot is the estimate; the band is the 95% interval.
Ranked first
The share of people who put each option at the top of their list.
How the estimate settled
The share ranking “Quality of fresh food” first after every ten profiles; the band narrows as more people are asked.
Who was asked
The make-up of the sample, drawn to match the population asked.
Why they answered this way
The answers split mainly between shoppers focused on fresh food and those trying to keep grocery costs down. Older respondents also repeatedly favored a short trip, while wide selection and friendly service usually mattered less.
Fresh produce matters because I cook most nights, and wilted vegetables end up being wasted food in my house.
A five-minute drive saves me. I don't want a long trip for a few bags of groceries.
Fresh food is worth the extra stop; at my age, I pay close attention to what I'm eating.
Grocery costs add up fast, so I check prices before anything else.
Grocery money has to stretch. I look for the cheaper store first, even if the produce selection is smaller.
I cook different kinds of meals, so I need fresh ingredients and enough choices in one store.
Prices come first because food takes a noticeable part of my paycheck every week.
Good produce is the main reason I shop somewhere; I prepare meals at home and can tell when the food is fresh.
My grocery budget is tight, so low prices matter more than having lots of brands to choose from.
Who answered what
Share ranking “Quality of fresh food” first, by the attributes of the people asked, against everyone (the vertical line). Groups with few profiles have wide intervals.
Biggest gaps
On each attribute, the group that answered lowest and the one that answered highest, and the gap between them. Groups of at least ten profiles.
- Education87 ptssome high school 4%graduate degree 92%
- Age57 pts15-19 0%65-69 57%
- Employment36 ptsunemployed 13%employed 49%
- State23 pts · within the marginMichigan 27%Illinois 50%
Sex
Employment
Education
Age
State
Every breakdown
Full reportThe answer by all ninety attributes, ranked by how much they separate people, with an interval on each.
Ask us to run it →State by state
Full reportThe answer in every state, mapped, with the sample behind each.
Ask us to run it →Where they said it
The answer by state, coloured where ten or more profiles answered; drag to pan, scroll or use the buttons to zoom, hover for the interval.
In the full report
This page is the free preview: the answer, why, and four breakdowns. A full run adds the rest. See what the report holds on this sample, or read a finished report.
The kinds of people in this answer
Full reportFour or five groups of reasons, each with its share and its number: who anchors on today’s bill, who shares a login, who pays for the kids.
Ask us to run it →Every reason, exportable
Full reportAll the people asked, in their own words, with their attributes, as a table to filter and download.
Ask us to run it →The whole population
Full reportThousands of profiles instead of a hundred: intervals a fifth as wide, and rare groups large enough to read.
Ask us to run it →The next questions
Full reportWould you take ads for five dollars less? Which service would you drop first? Asked of the same people.
Ask us to run it →A one-page summary
Full reportThis page says the finding in short; the report lays it out with the chart, the segments and the caveats as one page to print or forward.
Ask us to run it →How this was computed
Ranked from most to least preferred: Low prices · Quality of fresh food · A short trip · A wide selection · Friendly serviceSample2,000 profiles drawn in a fixed representative order from the population; asking more extends the same sample rather than starting overMethodEach profile answers in character from its own attributes. Answers outside the format are discarded before counting.AccuracyThe interval reflects sampling variation in the simulated sample. On one ranking question checked against the 2024 General Social Survey and the 2024 Cooperative Election Study, simulated first and last choices from this population sat a median 26 points from real people's within demographic groups and 16 points nationally. Every check
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