How Much Is Lunch?

Updated on January 19, 2013
A.V. asks from Silver Spring, MD
33 answers

Friend just posted that her kids' new elementary school is $2.15 for lunch. Here the prices are $2.50-$2.75 per lunch (elem - HS). My stepkids usually brought lunch b/c the lines are so long and DD will likely do the same. Are your prices higher or lower (for non-subsidized lunch)?

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So What Happened?

Reduced here is .40 (and breakfast is free if you qualify for a reduced price) which I think hasn't changed in decades and breakfast is $1.30. The menu looks OK - much better than when I was a kid!

Very interesting to note the prices and what is considered high or low.

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T.M.

answers from Tampa on

My son's elementary school is $2.25 for lunch. All the schools in the county do free breakfast for all students.

2 moms found this helpful

N.G.

answers from Dallas on

Breakfast is $1.25 and Lunch is $2.25. The food is usually junk food. One day this week they had steak fingers, mashed potatoes, corn and garlic toast. Starch, starch, starch, and 'meat' coated in starch. Ugh... my oldest daughter loves buying her lunch, so I let her do it sometimes.

2 moms found this helpful

T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

At the elementary school it's $3.50-4.00, but the program is run to make a profit (it helps pay for school programs like art, music and PE.) Same thing with the middle school, but it's higher, $4.50-5.00. Kids who qualify for free lunch (not many here) get the same meals as those who pay. I wouldn't know about the high school, my kids want nothing to do with the food there LOL!

1 mom found this helpful

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L.U.

answers from Seattle on

Lunch her is $2.75.
Elementary school

1 mom found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Our elementary school is $2.35 and breakfast is $1.15.

All adult/teacher lunches are ala carte which can add up to $5 pretty fast. The food is not that great in my opinion.

My daughter never ate much of the school lunches. She is a Senior in High school and there has been $80 in her lunch account for 3 yrs. When she graduates, it supposedly gets refunded to us.

She has open campus now and usually goes off site or takes her own lunch to school.

I don't know about free lunches and subsidized lunches.

1 mom found this helpful

K.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

our elementary school is 2.20. and since the state has stepped the food has gone down hill. and offer choices that are not kid friendly....so i limit my son as to what and how many times a week he has hot lunch....the state says all children must have 3 items on their tray(not like 2 milks) and if they don't like it they can throw it away. i can make my son' lunch with items that he likes and will eat and not waste!!

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Here in public school, the lunches are $2.35
Breakfast is $1

1 mom found this helpful

V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

Here, elementary is around $1.85, HS is $2.15. My son spends a little more b/c he often gets an extra milk.
Ironically, breakfast is absolutely free to the kids--whether you qualify or not (well, they don't charge the kids for it anyway). Any child can get breakfast at no charge any or every day of the week, as long as they get there before they close the cafeteria for breakfast in the mornings. Adults can also have breakfast WITH their kid if they want, for a small fee (I am not sure what it is, but around $2.00 I think). Same with lunch, except lunch is a little more, around $3.00.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.C.

answers from Anchorage on

full pay here is $4.30 in Alaska. My kids take cold lunch, I can give them more and better food for less if I make it myself. We have a ton of kids on the free program which is why the full pay is so much. I feel bad not getting it knowing they need the money to help fund the program, but the food is just not nutritious enough for my liking.

1 mom found this helpful

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

We don't have school cafeterias in elementary schools in Canada. Kids either go home for lunch or bring a lunch to school. We can buy milk at school for $.75.

1 mom found this helpful

A.W.

answers from Kalamazoo on

ours elem is $1.75 but the kids say it's mostly gross. They pack from home everyday. They don't even want to eat school lunch on pizza day! LOL!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.W.

answers from San Francisco on

3 bucks for lunch here. My kids take their lunch..cheaper and healthier. We use thermoses a lot for cold or warm items.

M.B.

answers from Tampa on

2.00$ here for lunch everyone gets free breakfast. In Orange CO (Orlando) all kids get free breakfast and lunches.

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N.W.

answers from Eugene on

$0. For breakfast and for lunch.

There was such a high percentage of students who qualified for free lunches that my son's school received a grant that allows free meals for all students.

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K.S.

answers from Denver on

My daughter's school has a different lunch vendor each day, mostly a la carte stuff to put together. So it can range between $3 - $8 per lunch. Needless to say, she doesn't get hot lunch very often!

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A.C.

answers from Dallas on

We started out his kindergarten year in SC, and I believe the lunch was $1.75. Joseph requested I just pack lunch everyday instead (saying it was ''yucky''), and we just used the school lunch if I was sick or a crazy morning when I just didn't want to pack lunch (about 3 days that first semester).
2nd half of the year, we're in TX and the lunch is $2.35. He said it was awesome and wants to eat school lunch 1 or 2 days a week.
One thing I appreciated about the school lunch in both states was that they give the kids a choice of veg or sides. There's a salad, sandwich, and hot item to choose from everyday, and then 3 or 4 sides (2 fruits, 2 veg choices, and the children get to pick 2 sides on the list), and a whole grain bread. Milk is included. We read the menu on weekends and pick out a day he can have hot lunch. I have no idea about breakfast, but I'm a sahm and insist on a good breakfast here at home to start the day, but understand that working moms don't always have time to get that done in the mornings, so I think it's good that breakfast is offered..

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J.K.

answers from Wausau on

The prices here have risen since my kids first started school, but they are still low compared to other areas of the country. For full price: elementary is $1.80, Jr High/Middle is $1.95, High is $2.05. That includes milk.

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J.R.

answers from Davenport on

non-subsidized, $1.20 for lunch, they are following a new plan the gov't put out, so the lunches cost less, but no "seconds" allowed. The lunches as school lunches go, are very healthful, a lean protein, only whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies every day.

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B.B.

answers from Missoula on

Lunch is $2.05, but does not include milk, which is another thirty or thirty-five cents, I can't remember.

Breakfast is $1.45. The food is pretty good, lots of whole grains and fresh produce.

☼.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

$2.50 here in So Cal

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

In Fairfax County - ELEMENTARY school serves breakfast and lunch. Cost for breakfast is - $1.50 and lunch is $2.65 per day. Additional meals are
available at adult prices (breakfast $1.95 and lunch $3.65) or a la carte, whichever is less.

Middle and high school are $2.75 - if they want double - it's $1.75 more.

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☆.A.

answers from Pittsburgh on

$2.00 here. It just went up this year from $1.75.

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S.T.

answers from Houston on

$2.50 here. I think it's a bit steep

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J.C.

answers from New York on

In NY, it's 2.25 for the hot meal (or sandwich, and other foods) plus .75 for milk. So $3.

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K.H.

answers from Detroit on

Elementary school lunch is $2. Reduced lunch is now free and breakfast is free for all students due to the percentage of kids that qualify. Milk is free for all at lunch. (Most districts around here continue to serve free breakfast and lunch even during summer break.) The food is garbage, though, which is really sad considering the number of kids dependent on the program.

⊱.✿.

answers from Spokane on

$2.10 for lunch and free breakfast for any of the kids who want it. They also have a salad bar and fruit bar that are endless ~ meaning the kids can go get seconds or thirds of the veggies and fruit.
My son picks 1 day a week for hot lunch.

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C.O.

answers from Minneapolis on

I think breakfast is $2.25 and lunch is $3.10 at my kids' school. I let them both eat lunch at school once a week. They go to a charter school that is K-8.

ETA: Meals are healthy. They always have a salad, fruit and low-fat milk. The school is very much into healthy eating. All snacks are healthy as well.

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J.O.

answers from Detroit on

I pay $3.75 for preschool (organic, hot), and $3 to $4.50 for elementary (offered twice a week, and it's fast food but not total junk.) We don't have hot lunch at the school; kids eat at their desk.

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J.F.

answers from Macon on

My son's school has 3 to 4 entree choices every day, plus some basics that are always available like salads, grilled cheese and PB&J. Cost is between. $3.50 and $4 per entree. It's a private school though.

I wish there were more healthy options but I will say the food quality is very good - honestly, I'd eat it myself. He buys his lunch about half the time.

We don't have a breakfast program.

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P.R.

answers from Cleveland on

ouch - ours is $4.15 for lunch. It is very good though...

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K.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

My kids pay between $3.50 and $5.00 per day. There are a lot of a la carte items that they can choose from, which ups the price. I think the basic lunch is something like $3.50. On sushi days (yeah, sushi days), they pay over $6.00.

~.~.

answers from Tulsa on

Elementary lunches are 1.90 and breakfast is .95. This is a 15 cent increase from last year. An extra carton of milk is .45, which is 10 cents more than last year.

I don't know how much the reduced lunches are. The school had a big push to have the reduced/free lunch applications filled out to qualify the entire school for free lunch/breakfast, but not enough kids qualified.

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M.G.

answers from Seattle on

Lunch costs $2.50 here for my children however they both bring lunch everyday. Breakfast is $1.50. I've found that while lunch does consist of decent food it does not of course consist of enough food to necessarily feed all appetites. Hence the reason I do send my children with their own lunches. They are in elementary school. I do know that lunch prices rise steadily as the school years increase.

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