For many parents, packing a lunch for their children is part of the daily back-to-school routine. But a new survey suggests it may not always be the cheaper option.<\/p>\n
According to Deloitte\u2019s 2026 Back-to-School Survey, the average cost of a packed school lunch is now about $6.33.<\/p>\n
That compares with a national average of roughly $3 to $3.25 for a school cafeteria lunch, about half the cost of a lunch packed at home.<\/p>\n
The survey comes as millions of children across the country qualify for free or reduced-price school meals based on their family\u2019s income.<\/p>\n
KPRC 2 spoke with 15 Houston-area parents about how they feed their children during the school year.<\/p>\n
All 15 said they pack lunches at home rather than having their children buy lunch at school.<\/p>\n
For some parents, the decision comes down to more than cost.<\/p>\n
One mother said she packs her daughter\u2019s lunch because she is a picky eater and would not eat the school lunch.<\/p>\n
Another parent said packing lunch is a better option because their children don\u2019t like the food served at school.<\/p>\n
Other parents said they believe packing lunch at home is cheaper and gives them more control over what their children eat.<\/p>\n
What does school lunch cost in Houston?<\/p>\n
The price varies depending on the school district and whether a campus participates in the Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP.<\/p>\n
At Houston ISD, lunch at non-CEP campuses costs $4 per meal. Families may qualify for free or reduced-price meals based on their income.<\/p>\n
In Katy ISD, lunch at elementary schools at non-CEP campuses costs $2.75 per meal. Students may also qualify for free or reduced-price meals based on household income.<\/p>\n
At $2.75 per lunch, buying school lunch five days a week would cost a family about $13.75 per child before any free or reduced-price meal benefits.<\/p>\n
At $4 per lunch, the weekly cost would be about $20 per child.<\/p>\n
What does it cost to pack lunch?<\/p>\n
To see how much it can cost to make lunches at home, KPRC 2\u2019s Bill Spencer went grocery shopping and purchased enough food to make one week\u2019s worth of school lunches.<\/p>\n
He chose store-brand products and looked for the least expensive options available.<\/p>\n
The total came to $65.47 for the groceries.<\/p>\n
Of course, that grocery haul includes items that can be used for multiple lunches and meals, so the cost of an individual packed lunch can vary widely depending on what a family buys and how much food is used for each meal.<\/p>\n
Still, Deloitte\u2019s national estimate shows just how much the cost of individual ingredients can add up.<\/p>\n
Is school lunch really cheaper?<\/p>\n
On a national level, the answer appears to be yes, at least based on Deloitte\u2019s estimates.<\/p>\n
But for Houston families, the calculation depends on the school district, whether a child qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, what parents purchase for packed lunches and how much of those groceries are used beyond one week\u2019s worth of lunches.<\/p>\n
For many Houston parents, however, the decision isn\u2019t simply about price.<\/p>\n
Taste, picky eaters, nutrition and what their children will actually eat can all play a role.<\/p>\n
And for families who qualify, free or reduced-price school meals can make buying lunch at school significantly less expensive.<\/p>\n
As the new school year gets underway, parents are once again faced with the same question nearly every morning: pack it or buy it?<\/p>\n
Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n
More Stories Like This In Our Email Newsletter<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many parents, packing a lunch for their children is part of the daily back-to-school routine. But a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1013050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[13915,990,4345,6459,6763,11645,405396,6214,358,3187],"class_list":["post-1013049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-back-to-school","tag-food","tag-houston","tag-money","tag-savings","tag-school","tag-school-lunch","tag-students","tag-texas","tag-tx"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117128638366938822","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1013049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1013050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1013049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1013049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1013049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}