Where in the U.S. Does a Night Out Cost More Compared to Staying In?

When it’s time to unwind, celebrate a big achievement, or simply spend quality time with someone, the first instinct is often to grab dinner, enjoy a few drinks, and maybe catch a movie afterward. Unfortunately, when you add up the costs of food, drinks, transportation, tickets, and everything else that comes with leaving the house, a night out can become surprisingly expensive.

While there’s always a good argument for treating yourself to an occasional night out, staying in can also make for a pretty great evening. Cooking dinner together, picking up drinks from the grocery store, and settling in for a home movie night might not come with table service or a giant theater screen, but it can leave considerably more money in your wallet.

But exactly how much cheaper is a night in, and how expensive is a night out in the first place? Rove Lab wanted to find out, so we compared the cost of going out with the cost of staying in across the 50 most populous U.S. cities to see where a night out comes with the highest price premium. We also looked at how much regular nights out cost relative to household income to see where going out takes the biggest bite out of the budget.

How We Determined the Average Cost of a Night Out and a Night In

To understand the average cost of a date night in versus a night out, we looked at the factors of a typical date-night scenario. Our classic night out includes dinner for two at a restaurant, four beers, two 5-mile taxi rides, and two movie tickets. For a date night at home, we totaled the cost of ingredients for a home-cooked dinner, including bread, steak, cheese, potatoes, and an onion, along with four beers from the grocery store and a $5.99 movie rental.

From there, we calculated how much more expensive going out is than staying in for each city and ranked the results by that percentage. This gives us the “Premium for Going Out,” which shows where a night out on the town has the highest markup over a similar evening at home.

Of course, a $200 night out does not affect every household the same way, so we also looked at affordability relative to income. Research suggests that U.S. couples go on an average of 18 dates per year, so we calculated the yearly cost of 18 nights out and 18 nights in, then compared those totals to each city’s median household income.

The Most Expensive Cities for a Night Out

When it comes to paying a premium for a night out, California is undeniably the biggest offender, occupying the top three spots on our list. Oakland ranks first, with a night out costing $226.84, compared to $67.96 for an evening at home. That is a $158.88 difference, meaning going out costs 233.78% more.

Long Beach comes in second, with the average dinner-and-a-movie cost, including the other expenses in our scenario, totaling $181.20. Staying in costs $55.26, a 227.90% premium. Los Angeles ranks third at $215.08 for a night out versus $66.47 at home, a 223.57% premium.

Virginia Beach ranks fourth at 218.95%, followed by Atlanta at 208.35%. Jacksonville, Dallas, El Paso, Boston, and Las Vegas round out the top 10.

Interestingly, while New York City is the second most expensive city for a night out, after Oakland at $220, it ranks 13th overall. Other expensive cities, such as San Jose and San Francisco, also ranked lower, thanks to their higher night-in costs, which ultimately narrows the percentage difference between the two options, even though going out itself is expensive.

Where Date Nights Take the Biggest Toll on Income

Higher date-night costs can strain budgets anywhere, but the impact varies significantly depending on a city’s average income. So, we also looked at the cumulative annual cost of an average number of evenings out on the town and weighed it against the median household earnings in the same cities.

Under this metric, Detroit comes in first, with 18 nights out costing about $2,683.80, or 6.84% of the city’s $39,209 median household income. On the other hand, 18 nights in account for just 2.77%.

Miami comes next at 5.66%, followed by Philadelphia at 4.92%, New York City at 4.89%, and Memphis at 4.73%. San Jose ranks last, where, despite relatively high date-night prices, 18 nights out amount to 2.61% of its $148,226 median household income.

How to Make Staying in Feel Like the Better Plan

While saving a few bucks is certainly a benefit, what other advantages does spending a night at home offer beyond the lower cost? A living-room date night can also cut out waiting for tables, annoying commutes, and navigating crowds. If you’re looking for affordable date night ideas, try new recipes together, invite friends over, or turn your couch into a big, comfy haven for a home movie night. When you’ve invested in making your space truly your own, staying in feels even more special.

The growing preference for enjoying our homes seems to extend beyond date nights. In our piece on where in the U.S. people favor staycations over getaways, we found that 43.86% of surveyed Americans spent their vacation time at home.

Instead of viewing every night at home as money not spent, consider what those savings could do for your everyday space. A comfortable sofa gives you a place to watch movies, host friends, or stretch out after work, and it makes a small apartment feel more inviting.

Going out can be a great way to unwind, but a comfortable home can make staying in just as appealing. Over time, having a space that feels good to spend time in can also mean fewer nights spent paying for dinner, drinks, or entertainment elsewhere. The goal isn’t to stop going out, but to make staying home an option that feels just as rewarding.

For those looking to make staying in a more appealing part of their routine, investing in a comfortable, functional living space can be a good place to start. Rove Lab offers modular sofas and sofa beds designed with smaller homes and apartments in mind, where making the most of available space matters. From creating a more inviting spot to relax and spend time with friends to accommodating overnight guests without a dedicated guest room, versatile furniture can make a home work harder for everyday life.

Comparing Nights Out Versus Nights In

Methodology

To identify where a night out costs the most relative to a night in, we compared the costs of dining out, having drinks, and going to the movies with the costs of cooking dinner, having drinks, and renting a movie at home in the 50 most populous U.S. cities. Using average local prices from LivingCost.org, we calculated the total expenses for both scenarios and ranked the cities from highest to lowest by the Premium for Going Out: (Night Out Cost ÷ Night In Cost − 1) × 100. The resulting percentage represents how much more expensive a night out is than a night in.

Night Out Costs: This includes dinner for two at a restaurant, four beers at a pub (two per person), two 5-mile taxi rides (to and from the destination), and two cinema tickets. The individual prices shown in the chart are average local prices for one unit of each item. For multiple units included in the night out, we multiplied the individual prices by the appropriate quantity to calculate the total Cost of Night Out.

Night In Costs: This includes the total average local prices for ingredients to cook dinner at home (bread, round steak, cheese, two potatoes, and an onion), four beers (two per person), and a fixed $5.99 movie rental fee from a streaming service. The beer prices shown are the average local prices for one 16 oz. unit of beer from a store. The movie rental fee and the quantities used for the full meal and drinks were applied when calculating the total Cost of Night In.

Where a Night Out Costs the Most Relative to Income

Research suggests that couples in the U.S. go on an average of 18 dates per year. We calculated the annual cost of 18 nights out and 18 nights at home in each city, then compared those costs with the annual household income to determine where date nights account for the largest share of household income.

Sources:

Costs for Night Out and Night In: https://livingcost.org/cost/united-states

Median Household Income: https://censusreporter.org/

Average Number of Dates: https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/51519-how-often-do-americans-go-on-dates