The price of a basic grocery basket featuring common items like eggs, milk and ground beef has far outpaced inflation since it first surged during the pandemic—a whopping 55.6% jump since 2020—while other increasing costs, like energy prices, continue to strain Americans’ finances.
Energy prices have surged, but inflation has increased the cost of common food items for years.
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2020: By Forbes estimates, this grocery basket of 11 staples cost $46.95 in June 2020, when annual inflation was last under 1%: Bananas ($1.16 per bunch), a loaf of bread ($1.83), a box of butter ($3.49), one package of chicken breasts ($8.01), a large bag of potato chips ($3.96), a tub of coffee grounds ($7.75), one package of chocolate chip cookies ($3.01), a dozen eggs ($1.55), one package of ground beef ($4.73), a large bottle of orange juice ($6.78) and a 12-pack of soda ($4.68).
2026: Now, this same grocery basket costs $73.07 as of April: Bananas ($1.30 per bunch), a loaf of bread ($2.32), a box of butter ($4.21), one package of chicken breasts ($9.98), a large bag of potato chips ($5.26), a tub of coffee grounds ($16.70), one package of chocolate chip cookies ($4.20), a dozen eggs ($2.25), one package of ground beef ($6.89), a large bottle of orange juice ($14.08) and a 12-pack of soda ($5.88).
Egg prices hit an all-time high of $6.22 in March 2025 (due to bird flu), surpassing an earlier record of $4.82 in January 2023, and boneless chicken breast prices peaked at $4.74 in September 2022. Bread briefly hit a record high of $2.03 in January 2024, while butter hit a record of $5 in September 2024. Coffee, beef and orange juice are each at record-high prices as of April.
The average cost of electricity per kilowatt hour rose to an all-time high of just over $0.19 in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. That’s a 35.7% increase since June 2020, when the average price of residential electricity was $0.14 per kilowatt hour, and about 27% since January 2025, when costs were just under 16 cents per kilowatt hour. Goldman Sachs analysts earlier this year estimated electricity prices would increase by another 6% through 2027 and slow to 3% in 2028, as data centers are expected to account for roughly 40% of electricity demand growth.
Biden, when inflation rose to 7.5% in January 2022, acknowledged that rising costs required Americans’ budgets to be “stretched in ways that create real stress at the kitchen table.” In May 2022, when inflation jumped to 8.5%, its fastest rate in 40 years, Biden pointed some blame on Republicans and the “ultra-MAGA agenda” and argued a tax plan by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., would only benefit the richest Americans. Trump has blamed Biden for rising inflation, saying in January 2025, after a faster-than-expected inflation report, that “BIDEN INFLATION [is] UP!” and later claimed the Biden administration “spent money like nobody has ever spent.” In October, Trump claimed inflation had been “defeated” after inflation hit 2.9%, and in December said consumer prices had been “coming down tremendously,” despite inflation rising at an annual 3% rate as of September. Earlier this week, Trump said, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situations, I don’t think about anybody” when negotiating a peace deal with Iran.
Inflation soared throughout the pandemic and cooled since peaking at an all-time high in 2022, but inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The annual increases in consumer prices have persisted through 2026, driven by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and soaring gas and energy prices since the start of the Iran war in late February. The Middle East conflict sparked another surge in inflation: Energy prices rose by 10.9% month-over-month in March, the largest increase since 2005, as gasoline and fuel prices jumped by more than 21% and 30%, respectively. Americans have increasingly expressed concerns about their personal finances and consumer prices, according to the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey, which indicated an all-time low for economic optimism in May and April. It’s unlikely that consumers will start to feel optimistic about the economy until gas prices begin to fall, the survey found.
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