Do you buy lunch off campus? Have you ever wondered how much you spend in a week? How about a whole school year? Now add up the whole school.
Due to our high school’s location in downtown Arcata, it is quite common for students to have the privilege of strolling off-campus to a local favorite restaurant to purchase their lunch.
If you were to guess the number that students combined spend every day at lunch what would you guess? Is your guess too high? Too low? Or did you nail it on the head? Well, let’s explore the numbers.
Based on a Pepperbox survey taken by students at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year. Arcata High School students spend approximately $1,117,832.40 on lunch every year. The grade that spends the most on lunch is not shockingly, seniors. Seniors spend about $2,169 every day.
Freshmen had the lowest percentage of people who usually buy lunch, but the highest average daily spending for those who do buy with $10.
Sophomores have the lowest average cost for those who buy with $8.25, but the highest number of people buying lunch with a reported 66% usually buying lunch.
Juniors spend the least as a grade with an average spending of $8.30 among the students who generally buy lunch. 60% of the junior class also typically purchases lunch off-campus. The reasons for them having the lowest overall spending grade has to do with them having one of the lowest populations of 246 students, only second to Seniors with a difference of 5 students.
Seniors have both the lowest population and highest average daily spending as a grade with $2,169. They had the highest average spending and the second-highest percentage of students who buy lunch. The combination of these two stats is what makes seniors the foundation of the local lunch economy.
The most popular place to go for lunch was by far Wildberries. The AHS lunch staple made up 37% of the favorite places for people who regularly buy lunch. “I like to go to Wildberries because there’s a wide variety of food and drinks to choose from,” sophomore Olivia Beck said.
Arcata High School undoubtedly has a culture around leaving campus for lunch. This may be seen as gluttonous considering the school provides a free lunch, but the majority of the students are giving their money to local businesses and assisting in boosting the local economy. Localism and community are very important to Arcata, and AHS students contribute greatly.
