Fortified Living

30-Day Food Storage Calculator

Wooden pantry shelves lined with glass jars of staple foods

How many calories, and how much water, does your household need for a month without a store run? Put in your numbers. Everything is worked out on your device. Nothing you type is saved or sent.

Counted at 1,400 calories a day, a planning assumption (see sources below).3,4 Ages 12 and up count as adults. Not for infants or toddlers under 2.

Your choice. Ready.gov's water figure is per day.2

Optional. Leave at 0 if you are starting fresh.

Your planning numbers

Calories per day, whole household1
4,000
Calories for 30 days
120,000
Water for 30 days (1 gallon per person per day)2
60 gallons
Still to cover after what you have
30 days (120,000 calories)

For a sense of scale only: 120,000 calories is about 72.5 pounds if it all came from dry white rice (the assumption basis, FDC ID 169756).5 Real storage is a mix of foods your family will actually eat, so this is a yardstick, not a recommendation or a shopping quantity.

Water uses Ready.gov's per-day figure;2 the number of days is your choice. Stored water needs safe storage or treatment. A planning estimate, not medical or dietary advice. Needs differ with age, activity, pregnancy and health, so ask your clinician about yours.

Rows of large blue water bottles stacked together for household water storage

Don't plan food without water

Ready.gov says to store at least one gallon of water per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation.2 Two state university extension services, which are not federal agencies, give the same one-gallon figure. Utah State University Extension suggests a minimum of three days and says two weeks is best.6 Oregon State University Extension suggests at least three days and preferably two to four weeks.7 Past that, how many days to cover is your call.

Open glass jars of almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, buckwheat and dried goji berries spilling onto a white table

Where the numbers come from

  • Adult 2,000 calories a day. FDA: "2,000 calories a day is used as a general guide for nutrition advice. Your calorie needs may be higher or lower." This is a general guide, not a claim that 2,000 is enough for any one person. Source: FDA, How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label.1
  • Child 1,400 calories a day (planning assumption). Planning assumption. USDA/HHS Dietary Guidelines 2020-2025, Table A2-2, estimates 1,000 to 2,200 calories a day for ages 2 to 11 depending on age, sex and activity. The 1,400 figure is ours, not USDA's, and is not a dietary recommendation. The newer 2025-2030 guidelines do not publish an estimated-calorie table; they say needs depend on age, sex, height, weight and activity. Ask your clinician. Not for infants or toddlers under 2.3,4
  • Water 1 gallon per person per day. Ready.gov, Water: "Store at least one gallon of water per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation." Uses Ready.gov's per-day figure; the number of days is your choice. Stored water needs safe storage or treatment.2,6,7
  • Rice yardstick, about 1,656 calories per pound. Assumption basis only, not a buy recommendation. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy FDC ID 169756, Rice, white, long-grain, regular, raw, unenriched: 365 calories per 100 g (365 x 4.53592 = about 1,656 per pound).5

The 2,000-calorie and child figures come from federal sources only. We did not find a non-federal publication that states them independently, so we have not claimed one. The water figure is the one we could check against universities (notes 6 and 7).

Sources

Each link goes to the exact page cited. Pages opened and checked October 10, 2026.

  1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label. 2,000 calories a day as a general guide for nutrition advice; needs vary with age, sex, height, weight and activity. Accessed October 10, 2026.
  2. Ready.gov (FEMA). Water. At least one gallon of water per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation. Accessed October 10, 2026.
  3. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, Appendix 2, Table A2-2 (printed pages 140-141). Estimated daily calorie needs by age, sex and activity level; the 1,000 to 2,200 range for ages 2 to 11. Accessed October 10, 2026.
  4. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030. The current edition. It has no estimated-calorie-needs table, which is why note 3 cites the previous edition. Accessed October 10, 2026.
  5. U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central. Rice, white, long-grain, regular, raw, unenriched (SR Legacy, FDC ID 169756). Energy 365 kcal per 100 g. Accessed October 10, 2026.
  6. Utah State University Extension. Storing Water for an Emergency. Store a gallon of water per person per day; at least three days, best two weeks. (University extension service; non-federal.) Accessed October 10, 2026.
  7. Oregon State University Extension Service. Survival basics: Water (EM 9285). Plan one gallon per person per day for at least three days, preferably two to four weeks. (University extension service; non-federal.) Accessed October 10, 2026.