The Finance of Food: How much money is brought in by Girl Scout Cookies and bonus cookie ranking.

Probably one of the best text's I have received this month came from my mom who stated "Girl Scouts are coming around, want any cookies?"

The obvious answer is yes, followed by a stock piling of Thin Mints and Samoa's. The seven-week cookie season is underway, with an online business model helping boom the industry. It got me thinking, is this one of the biggest pyramid schemes of all time? And how much do Girl Scouts rake in from these cookies?

So, I did the math.

A box of cookies cost $5 (side note, back in 2004, boxes are only $3.5 a pop, thanks inflation). Reports are saying that The Girl Scouts normally sell around 200 million boxes of cookies per year, or around $800 million worth of cookies.

Their website reports that there are 1.7 million girls who are active troop members as of today. Basic math says that each Girl Scout is selling just over 117 boxes per year.

Back in 2017 Katie Francis of Oklahoma City became the all-time Girl Scout cookie selling champion, selling a record 100,100 boxes of Girl Scout cookies during her seven years as a scout. This record will probably be squashed soon. Last year, Lilly Bumpus of San Bernardino, who is only 8 years old, sold a whopping 32,484 boxes in one season. That's a quick 162,420 in seven weeks.

According to Girl Scouts of the USA, Thin Mints are the top-selling cookie, followed in descending sales order by Caramel deLites/Samoas, Peanut Butter Patties/Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos/Peanut Butter Sandwiches, and Trefoils/Shortbread. Which leads me to my rankings.

1. Thin Mints

2. Samoas / Caramel deLites

3. Tagalongs / Peanut Butter Patties

4. Trefoil / Shortbread

5. Thanks-A-Lot

6. S'mores

7. Savannah Smiles

8. Caramel Chocolate Chip

9. Peanut Butter Sandwich

10. Rah-Rah Raisins

11. Lemon-Ups

12. Lemonades

13. Toffee-tastic

14. Trios

15. Cranberry Citrus Crisps

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