Most and Least Expensive Supermarkets
We compared the prices of baskets of goods across dozens of grocery retailers in six cities representative of their regions. How did your favorite store do?
Grocery inflation has hit Brianna Stangarone right in the lasagna pan. The imported pecorino Romano cheese she has always used to make her signature dish has become so expensive that the Irvington, N.Y., teacher recently switched to a domestic substitute. She has also downloaded three grocery apps to help her find the best price for her favorite pasta brand. And she’s become used to making sacrifices she hadn’t considered before. “If something’s too expensive and it’s not a necessity,” she says, “I leave it behind.”
What We Found
Grocery chains with the largest market shares in those six metropolitan areas, including a handful of warehouse clubs and specialty grocers, are ranked below from least expensive to most expensive relative to Walmart, the largest and most ubiquitous grocery retailer in the U.S.
The comparisons were based on the total price of grocery baskets that included packaged goods, produce, and meat, but differed in size depending on which items were available in each store. The comparisons were most robust for mainstream retailers carrying a wide selection of identical national-brand goods that could be compared across supermarkets. The comparison baskets were smaller for the stores that focus on private-label brands or specialty goods, which have fewer items in common with Walmart, our baseline retailer.
For example, in the Chicago-area analysis, baskets comparing prices at Food4Less, Jewel-Osco, Marianos, Meijer, Target, and Walmart all contained 56 items. By contrast, baskets comparing Trader Joe’s prices to Walmart’s in Chicago contained 23 items.
The first tab, “National Average,” shows the retailers’ pricing relative to Walmart prices, averaged across the six metro areas. The next tab, “By Metro Area (All),” shows the pricing comparisons in each of the six metro areas separately. The third tab, “By Metro Area (Select One),” shows pricing comparisons in one metro area of your choice at a time.
Average price difference vs. Walmart across all locations
How We Compared Prices
Price comparisons were conducted for CR by the Strategic Resource Group, a consultancy in New York. Prices were collected in person from store shelves in late summer 2025. Within metro areas, all prices were collected within a 48-hour period. The amounts shown reflect sale prices and discounts available to shoppers using free store loyalty cards but don’t reflect manufacturer coupons or savings available only through smartphone apps.
After publication, Whole Foods contacted us and said the analysis CR published did not account for other factors that could be important to shoppers, such as ingredient standards and sourcing. A spokesperson for the company also noted, "In the last 18 months, Whole Foods Market has reduced prices on 25 percent of items in our stores, including private label items, without compromising our industry-leading quality standards. Prime members who shop at Whole Foods Market have access to a number of benefits year-round, including deep discounts on select popular products each week and an additional 10 percent off hundreds of in-store sale items.”
Clarification: This article, originally published Feb. 2, 2026, has been updated to clarify that the price-comparison baskets were significantly larger for mainstream supermarkets that carry a wide selection of national-brand goods than for retailers that focus on private-label brands or specialty goods.
Editor’s Note: A version of this article also appeared in the January/February 2026 issue of Consumer Reports magazine. The article has also been updated to reflect comments from Whole Foods received after publication.
