In US cities, grocery prices jumped 33%, and millions are couponing, comparing, and cutting back

Grocery shopping has become a weekly puzzle for many Americans: checking apps, comparing stores, and cutting anything that suddenly feels too expensive.

For households already squeezed by rent, utilities, and child care costs, a trip to the supermarket can feel like one more financial stress test, Newsday recently reported.

What's happening?

Before this stretch of rising prices, groceries had gone up just 6.4% over the previous 7 1/2 years. 

Now, government data cited by the Associated Press (via Newsday) shows food bought for home consumption in American cities costs about 33% more than it did at the beginning of 2019.

There is no single reason for that jump. 

Pandemic-related supply snags combined with higher labor and shipping costs, while drought, hurricanes, bird flu, tariffs on imports, and the war in Ukraine all pushed prices higher.

Prices also differ significantly depending on where shoppers live. In June, grocery inflation was about 2% year over year in St. Louis, compared with 6% in San Francisco.

For shoppers such as Apral Jack, a 50-year-old Massachusetts resident, that means reshaping meals around discounts and choosing stores based on where prices are lower.

"The apples went up here, the ones I eat, so now I'm not going to get them here. I'll go to Market Basket, where I can get them cheaper," she said.

Why does it matter?

While wages have risen somewhat, grocery inflation continues to hit household budgets at a brutal pace.

Jared Bernstein — a senior policy fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy who previously headed the Council of Economic Advisers for former President Joe Biden — said shoppers tend to notice changes in food prices right away.

"People have a well-honed sense of those prices, just as much as gas and maybe more so," Bernstein said. "You need groceries to live."

The strain is particularly severe for lower-income households. 

Americans spent an average of 12.9% of pretax income on eating out and at home in 2024, but about 33% for the lowest-earning fifth of households.

For many families, that means trading down: meat becomes more of a luxury, snacks and brand-name basics get cut, and simpler meals become more common.

Ada Torres, a 60-year-old Texas resident shopping for a family of five, summed it up bluntly. 

"Prices are sky-high. One hundred dollars' worth of groceries these days is nothing."

What's being done about it?

To stretch their budgets, many families are piecing together a mix of tactics: using coupons, visiting multiple stores, buying generic products, and deciding what to cook based on sale prices instead of preference.

Jack said she now begins with digital deals and lets those bargains determine dinner, including picking up chicken when the price drops.

Analysts say that approach is becoming more common. 

Sally Lyons Wyatt, identified as Circana's global executive vice president, described it as "a household strategy" as consumers develop "their own playbook on how to navigate it."

Some families are also leaning on outside help. In San Francisco, self-employed barber Jack Chang said his household depends in part on food assistance and food banks his mother uses.

Without that help, he said, "I don't know what I would do."

Amanda Tabadero, a pastry chef, said of skipping local ingredients she loves: "It makes me sad. I want to use local stuff."

"Failure is not an option for me," Chang said.

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