Pennsylvanians Eat Dinner Earlier Than Any Other State, Study Says

Living in Pennsylvania means we eat pretty well. We can all probably agree with that sentiment, right? After all, Pennsylvania’s the birthplace of some of the world’s greatest foods – Philadelphia cheesesteaks, stromboli, Hershey’s chocolate, Lebanon bologna, and even the Big Mac. Love it or hate it, we should give a tip of the hat to scrapple, too. Since we eat so well, it might come as little surprise that Pennsylvanians eat dinner earlier than residents of any other state, according to a recent study.

For many Americans, dinnertime is usually around 6 p.m., but Pennsylvanians gather around the table earlier than everyone else, sitting down to eat at 5:37 p.m.

Flowing Data’s Nathan Yau analyzed data from the American Time Use Survey for 2018 through 2022 to come to his findings. He did not include any information from 2020 as the survey was incomplete that year because of COVID.

Yau found that the average time most Americans eat dinner is 6:19 p.m. Pennsylvanians came in the earliest at 5:37 p.m. with Mainers following a close second at 5:40 p.m.

Residents in Washington DC start dinner later than the rest of the U.S., sitting down to their evening meal at 7:10 p.m. Mississippi and Texas are just behind the District with dinnertime at 7:02 p.m.

Most American households sit down to dinner between 5:07 p.m. and 8:19 p.m.

Head to the official website of Flowing Data to see when all 50 states eat dinner and for more information.

What do you think about the results of this study that found Pennsylvanians eat dinner earlier than any other state? Why do you think we eat dinner so early? What time do you eat dinner? Let us know in the comments! Then take a look at these quirky facts about Pennsylvania; they sound made up, but they’re true.