Americans love their coffee. According to 2025 National Coffee Association data, 66% of U.S. adults enjoy it daily. Depending on where you live, however, the price to purchase it outside the home can take a surprising bite out of your working time.
Coffeeness, a German espresso bean and product company, analyzed 2025 data to determine how long people work in each U.S. state to afford a simple daily cup of coffee.
It examined the prices for a regular cup from an independent establishment, such as a local diner, and Starbucks, the country’s most popular coffee chain. It then compared the prices against the state’s average hourly wage to find which residents must toil the longest and the shortest to buy their brew.
The cost may be higher than you think, both in dollars and effort. Here’s how it breaks down for the most and least expensive states by working time, and how you can get more coffee for less money, no matter where you live.
Five States Where Coffee Is the Hardest Earned
Despite the state being known for growing the most coffee beans, a cup of black coffee from an independent café is the least affordable for Hawaiians.
Per the Coffeeness study, residents would need to spend the most time working to buy their daily cup of regular coffee, at 7.89 minutes. New Mexicans spend 6.82 minutes, Louisianans spend 6.57 minutes, Arizonans spend 6.3 minutes, and Nevadans spend 6.11 minutes.
“The main driver is the cost of living, but for Hawaiians, the cost of Kona beans is also high,” says Theo Chan, managing editor of Coffee Roast, a specialty coffee review site in Boston.
Starbucks is a different story. Its products are more expensive for all Americans. Residents of Arkansas need to spend the most, at 10.39 minutes, just to get their regular cup from this chain. This is followed by people in Mississippi, at 10.37 minutes, New Mexico at 10.31 minutes, Wyoming at 10.10 minutes and South Dakota at 10.07 minutes.
“With Starbucks, you’re paying for the brand,” Chan says. “It commands high prices; you’re paying for the experience.”
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Five States Where People Don’t Have To Work Quite So Long for Their Coffee
Nebraskans may be glad to know that they may only spend 3.88 of their working time to purchase a cup of coffee from their local cafe, the least amount of time out of all the country’s residents. Ohioans spend 5.03 minutes, New Yorkers spend 5.02 minutes, Kansans spend 4.91 minutes and people in Massachusetts spend 4.91 minutes.
As for Starbucks, Washington, D.C., residents spend the least time affording their coffee, at 5.67 minutes. Massachusetts residents are next at 6.68 minutes, Washingtonians spend 6.68 minutes, Connecticuters spend 7.28 minutes and Coloradans spend 7.32 minutes.
Make the Cup Worth Your Working Time
For many people, the time cost of purchasing a cup of coffee is more than worth the effort. Coffee is a valuable part of life. However, there are still ways to keep time and expenses down.
“Coffee itself should be good enough to drink black,” says Kenneth Thomas, host of Coffee 101 Podcast and CEO at Umble Coffee Co., headquartered in Starkville, Mississippi. “Black coffee is about as cheap as you can get for a drink, whether that’s espresso, drip or anything in between. If it doesn’t taste great to you, try a different roast level or even a different café next time.”
If you just can’t do coffee straight, your next money-smart option is to doctor it up with the free ingredients, such as sweeteners and a variety of milks that the café offers. Some places even offer spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa and vanilla powder.
“If a barista asks you if you’d like an alternative milk or an extra pump of this or cold foam on the top or whatever, think before you speak,” Thomas says. “It may cost you extra when the drink itself is phenomenal without all the bonus content.”
Are you a two-cups-a-day drinker? Get the largest size and split it up, suggests Chan. You’ll slash the time spent on buying it almost in half.
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Lower the Cost of Starbucks to Go
Michelle Garrett, a public relations consultant from Columbus, Ohio, is an avowed coffee lover who treats herself to Starbucks at least once a week. She’s developed a few tricks to keep it affordable, including making the most of the company’s loyalty program.
“Definitely sign up for Starbucks Rewards,” Garrett says. “You earn stars, and 200 of them will get you a free drink. They also have special days and times for rewards members where they give discounts. It may be Thursday from noon to five when you can buy one, get one free or get a half-price drink.”
The Starbucks app alerts you to various strategies, so Garrett recommends downloading it. “There are opt-in challenges, such as buying a certain type of drink all in a row to earn more stars,” she says.
Starbucks also partners with other brands for promotions so you can earn extra stars. For example, the company has a relationship with the hotel brand Marriott Bonvoy. By linking the two apps, you can earn double stars at Starbucks while staying at eligible hotels.
And if you drink your Starbucks at one of the company’s locations, you can make a single cup of hot or iced coffee last for hours with complimentary refills. If you work remotely from the store it will slash the amount of time you have to put into your job to afford the coffee.
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Brew and Bring Your Own
“No matter how you look at it or how much you make, coffee is expensive,” says Mark Patterson, founder of Civilized Coffee, headquartered in Sequim, Washington. “When we go out to dinner as a group, it can be $50 added to the bill if everyone gets coffee. You have to ask, is it worth it?”
Patterson says you can keep your java-on-the go costs down with a few adjustments. For example, scaling back may be your best bet when you know how long you need to work for the coffee. Instead of a stop at the cafe every day, drop it down to once a week. You may savor that cup even more because it becomes a special indulgence.
But also consider brewing and bringing your own coffee to work, since that’s where you’ll see the most substantial price differential.
One of the more popular variations of plain coffee is cold brew, in which the grounds are steeped in cold water for 12 to 14 hours. According to Toast data, the median price of cold brew coffee was $5.40 as of April 2025, up 4.2% from the previous year, outpacing regular drip coffee.
However, if you were to make your own with a high-quality, shelf-stable instant coffee, Patterson says it’s only 30 cents per cup, with no new equipment needed.
“Most people don’t realize that it takes over six minutes of working time for a Starbucks cold brew, for something that’s 98% water,” he says.
Invest in a great flask and add your steamy brew for long-lasting hot coffee. According to Chan, the best cup of hot coffee you can make is from the pour-over method, and you’ll get the most depth of flavor with whole beans. “Just don’t grind the beans in a traditional blender, because the blades heat them up, hurting their flavor. Use a grinder; they’re not expensive.”
“For a lot of folks like me, coffee is a ritual. Change it up, and it can be amazing in its own way or even better,” Chan says. “The way this economy has gone, people are looking for different routines to save money and still get their caffeine fix. If you can get 20 to 25 cups out of a 16-ounce bag of coffee beans or sometimes even more, it makes sense.”
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How Much You’re Really Paying for That Coffee — And How to Stop It originally appeared on usnews.com
