As if back-to-school season wasn't expensive enough, a new survey by Deloitte found that school lunch costs are on the rise for the 2025-26 school year.
The report looked at four school lunch options – a classic brown bag lunch with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a convenience day with a pre-packaged lunch kit, a health and wellness day with a pre-made salad, and a contemporary day with a chicken and avocado quesadilla. It found that the average cost across all options was $6.15, up by 3% from 2024.
