The 7 that got cheaper
| Item | Sept 2025 | Sept 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs, grade A large (dozen) | $3.49 | $2.27 | -34.9% |
| Bacon, sliced (lb) | $7.29 | $6.76 | -7.3% |
| Ice cream, prepackaged (half gallon) | $6.40 | $5.93 | -7.3% |
| Lettuce, iceberg (lb) | $1.73 | $1.64 | -5.5% |
| Potato chips (16 oz) | $6.97 | $6.67 | -4.3% |
| American processed cheese (lb) | $4.92 | $4.74 | -3.8% |
| Flour, white all purpose (lb) | $0.56 | $0.55 | -3.2% |
BLS average retail price series, US city average. Eggs lead the list: $3.49 a dozen in September 2025 to $2.27 in September 2026, as the 2025 spike unwound.
What the drops add up to
Example: a household that each month buys 2 dozen eggs, 1 lb bacon, 1 half-gallon ice cream, 2 lb lettuce, a 16 oz bag of chips, a pound of American cheese, and 2 lb of flour pays about $4.15 less per month than a year ago on those items alone - roughly $50 a year. This is an illustration with stated quantities, not your receipt.
The 3 still climbing
| Item | Sept 2025 | Sept 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground beef, 100% beef (lb) | $6.32 | $6.79 | +7.4% |
| Rice, white long grain (lb) | $1.06 | $1.12 | +5.5% |
| Coffee, ground roast (lb) | $9.14 | $9.33 | +2.1% |
Ground beef at $6.79 a pound is just off its record ($6.92 in August 2026). Coffee at $9.33 a pound is 4% under its April 2026 peak of $9.72 but still rising year over year. Rice is up 5.5% and at its highest in the series.
And the rest: flat to slightly down
| Item | Sept 2025 | Sept 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken, fresh whole (lb) | $2.06 | $2.06 | +0.1% |
| Milk, whole (gal) | $4.13 | $4.11 | -0.6% |
| White bread (lb) | $1.87 | $1.83 | -2.0% |
| Bananas (lb) | $0.67 | $0.66 | -2.1% |
| Sugar, white (lb) | $1.04 | $1.02 | -2.2% |
Cheaper this year is not cheap
Every item on the falling list still costs more than it did before 2020. Eggs are down 35% from a year ago and still up 55% on January 2020. Coffee is up 124% since January 2020, ground beef 75%, rice 56%. A fall after a spike is not a return to the old price.
Common questions
Are grocery prices actually falling?
Mostly not - the index for food at home is still rising, up 1.8% in the year to September 2026. What is falling is a specific set of items that spiked earlier, eggs most of all.
Why are eggs down so much?
The BLS average price for a dozen large eggs hit $3.49 in September 2025 during the supply shock and eased to $2.27 by September 2026 as supply recovered. This page shows what happened, not what comes next.
Where does the data come from?
The BLS Average Price Data program, which collects prices in stores each month. Each item above names its series; the full list is in the sources below.
Related tools
Inflation, your basket shows the same kind of change for the items you actually buy. Shrinkflation checker catches the version of a price rise that hides in a smaller package.
Sources
BLS Average Price Data, retrieved October 18, 2026: eggs APU0000708111, bacon APU0000704111, ice cream APU0000710411, lettuce APU0000712211, potato chips APU0000718311, American cheese APU0000710211, flour APU0000701111, ground beef APU0000703112, rice APU0000701312, coffee APU0000717311, chicken APU0000706111, milk APU0000709112, bread APU0000702111, bananas APU0000711211, sugar APU0000715211. Food at home index: BLS CPI CUUR0000SAF11. Percentages and the worked example are our arithmetic, rounded.
Limits
Educational explanation, not tax, legal or investment advice. Examples are labelled. Nothing here promises a result.