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United States food prices 2026-Q2: 63 ingredients across Walmart, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods
63 items · Walmart · Trader Joe's · Whole Foods · USD
Sources: chain weekly flyers; government food price indexes (US BLS, Statistics Korea, INE, ONS, StatCan, ABS, INEGI); manual in-store spot checks. Methodology →
Cheapest chain on average
Walmart
Cheapest on 63/63
Walmart
$1.03
average unit price
Trader Joe's
$1.27
average unit price
Whole Foods
$1.75
average unit price
Ingredient prices by supermarket
See all 63 ingredient prices →| Ingredient | Unit | Walmart | Trader Joe's | Whole Foods | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | per 100 g | $0.15 | $0.20 | $0.30 | +100% |
| Avocado | each | $1.50 | $1.70 | $2.50 | +67% |
| Baguette | per 100 g | $0.50 | $0.65 | $0.95 | +90% |
| Bean sprout | per 100 g | $0.30 | $0.40 | $0.55 | +83% |
| Beef brisket | per 100 g | $0.95 | $1.20 | $1.70 | +79% |
| Beef chuck | per 100 g | $1.20 | $1.50 | $2.00 | +67% |
| Black pepper | per 100 g | $1.20 | $1.50 | $2.00 | +67% |
| Bomba rice | per 100 g | $0.80 | $1.00 | $1.40 | +75% |
| Butter | per 100 g | $1.00 | $1.20 | $1.60 | +60% |
| Carrot | per 100 g | $0.20 | $0.25 | $0.35 | +75% |
| Cheddar | per 100 g | $1.00 | $1.30 | $1.80 | +80% |
| Chicken breast | per 100 g | $0.55 | $0.70 | $0.95 | +73% |
13 popular dishes · cost per serving
Cheapest meal: $1.73 · Priciest meal: $4.09
You save $12.27 (88%)
Full breakdownYou save $14.11 (88%)
Full breakdownYou save $12.10 (86%)
Full breakdownYou save $14.04 (88%)
Full breakdownYou save $19.77 (90%)
Full breakdownYou save $15.57 (87%)
Full breakdownYou save $11.53 (82%)
Full breakdownYou save $15.20 (84%)
Full breakdownYou save $25.08 (90%)
Full breakdownYou save $15.07 (84%)
Full breakdownYou save $10.06 (77%)
Full breakdownYou save $13.05 (82%)
Full breakdownYou save $12.91 (76%)
Full breakdownFood price context in United States
The United States has one of the widest price spreads of any market on CostMyMeal, and it's mostly a story of store positioning rather than geography: Walmart, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods sit at three very different points on the same shelf, all priced in USD. A big-box discounter, a small-format specialty grocer, and a premium organic-leaning chain can charge noticeably different prices for the same basic item — eggs, milk, chicken — well before you even get to specialty ingredients.
Grocery shopping in the US is largely car-based and bulk-oriented; larger pack sizes are the norm, and shoppers who split purchases across multiple stores (discount chain for staples, specialty store for produce or cheese) can meaningfully undercut a single-store weekly shop. Sales tax on groceries also varies by state — many exempt basic food items entirely — which this calculator doesn't model, so treat the totals here as pre-tax comparisons.
Utilities are cheap by global standards: 0.16 USD/kWh for electricity and 0.05 USD/kWh-equivalent for gas mean the cooking method (boil vs. fry vs. bake) moves the total bill less here than in higher-utility-cost countries — ingredients, not energy, dominate the US cost breakdown for almost every dish.
Use the dish grid below to see how far a recipe's price swings between the discount chain and the premium one — it's usually the single biggest lever available to a US home cook.
Sources: chain weekly flyers; government food price indexes (US BLS, Statistics Korea, INE, ONS, StatCan, ABS, INEGI); manual in-store spot checks. Methodology →