PHOTOGRAPHED BY BEN RITTER.When choosing a "guilty pleasure," Americans have no shortage of options, many of which are drinkable or edible. So, to show exactly where young America is getting its kicks (and dropping its cash), Level Money, a budget-tracking app, mapped the "vice spending" of 18- to 33-year-olds. It focused on three staples of millennial life: coffee, fast food, and beer.
"From carb-loaded amber ales to Venti Frappucinos to the Crunchwrap
Supreme," Level writes, "we took a look at anonymous data from January to June in 2014 to see where the Millennial generation likes to spend." The resulting map, below, highlights that "vice" spending varies widely by region. Maine takes home the title of most caffeinated state: The average millennial Mainer shells out $307 on coffee a year, and 15% buy a cup of Joe two or more times a week. Across the country, we can't keep our hands off the Starbucks: The chain accounts for more than 45% of all millennial coffee purchases.
While Massachusetts is noted as the booziest state among the younger set, millennial Oklahomans fork over the most cash on fast food, spending an average of $1,194 a year. And, 40% of them visit a fast-food chain two or more times a week. (McDonald's is the preferred fast food of both millennials and the general population.) Click through to Level Money for the full report on young America's favorite vices. (Level Money)
ILLUSTRATION: COURTESY OF LEVEL MONEY.AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT