According to balancedweightmanagement.com, the Average American eats out 50% of the time. However, in more specific terms, The National Restaurant Association reports that "an average of one out of five meals consumed by Americans — 4.2 meals per week — is prepared in a commercial setting... An average of 14.4 meals per week are privately prepared, and the remaining 2.4 meals are skipped."

According to this survey, three quarters of American's eat out at least once a week. One page of the study is a nice graph which outlines this information.