Everyday prices, then and now
A dozen eggs: 87.9¢ in 1980. $2.27 in September 2026.
In today’s dollars, that 1980 dozen cost $3.81, so eggs are 40% cheaper after inflation, even after a record $6.23 in March 2025. Official U.S. average prices for 53 everyday things, month by month.
Same basketJul 1995 → Sep 2026
- Eggs87.9¢ → $2.27
- Whole milk$2.48 → $4.11
- White bread78.9¢ → $1.83
- Ground beef$1.36 → $6.79
- Whole chicken91.9¢ → $2.06
- Bananas52.2¢ → 65.6¢
- Coffee$4.03 → $9.33
- Regular gas$1.20 → $4.48
- Basket$12.17 → $31.53
The Jul 1995 basket cost $12.17 then, or $26.89 in Sep 2026 dollars. One of each: a dozen eggs, a gallon of whole milk, and a pound each of white bread, ground beef, whole chicken, bananas and coffee, plus a gallon of regular gas.
Items tracked
53
six aisles, from eggs to heating oil
Monthly prices on file
24,104
Back to 1976
Latest data
Sep 2026
Released by BLS Oct 14, 2026
Next update
Nov 10
2026 · October 2026 prices
A year of prices · Sep 2026 vs a year earlier
What moved most in twelve months.
Change from the same month a year earlier, using BLS’s U.S. city average. A rise is marked in red because it costs you more.
Browse by aisle
Six aisles, 53 prices.
Every item has its own page: the full monthly record, the same line in today’s dollars, yearly averages and a CSV you can download.
Aisles
6- 01Dairy & eggseggs, whole milk, reduced-fat milk, butter and 4 more
- 02Meatground beef, lean ground beef, ground chuck, whole chicken and 9 more
- 03Producebananas, oranges, lemons, grapefruit and 5 more
- 04Pantrywhite bread, whole wheat bread, flour, sugar and 6 more
- 05Drinksorange juice, 2-liter soda, canned soda, beer and 1 more
- 06Energyregular gas, gasoline, midgrade gas, premium gas and 4 more
Are you overpaying?
Two monthly bills, checked line by line.
Prices from each company’s own pages, checked Oct 2026. Taxes, fees and fine print are shown next to every price.
- 01Phone plans from $25 a month.We list 19 single-line plans. The big three start at $45 with AutoPay; prepaid brands on the same towers start at $25. Tell us what you pay and how much data you use.
- 02Bundles that save up to $20.99 a month.31 plans across 11 streaming and music services, plus official bundles, annual plans and ad tiers. Tick what you pay for and see a cheaper way to get the same shows.
Pay less
Store rules that hand money back.
Price matching, price adjustments after you buy, rain checks and standing discounts: 34 policies in plain words, each linked to the company’s own page.
Policies
34- 01Price matchingTarget, Best Buy, Walmart, The Home Depot, Lowe's, Staples, Amazon, Kohl's, Walgreens
- 02Price adjustment after purchaseBest Buy, The Home Depot, Kohl's, Macy's
- 03Rain checksKroger, CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens
- 04Senior discountsKohl's, Walgreens, Michaels
- 05Student discountsSpotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Disney+ and Hulu, Peacock
- 06Military discountsThe Home Depot, Lowe's
- 07Return windowsWalmart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, CVS Pharmacy
- 08Free shipping thresholdsWalmart, Target, Best Buy
How we work
Official numbers. Our math, in the open.
No estimates of our own, no paid placement, and no affiliate links.
- 01We start from the official record.Grocery and energy prices are the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly U.S. city averages, the same numbers behind the Consumer Price Index.
- 02We show both kinds of dollars.Every chart has the price at the time and the same price in Sep 2026 dollars, adjusted with the CPI for all urban consumers, so “expensive” means something.
- 03We read the fine print by hand.Phone plans, streaming prices and store policies come only from each company’s own pages, with the month we checked and the caveats beside the price.