As food inflation persists, many of us have been pinching pennies in our grocery budgets. That may mean taking advantage of weekly discounts, sacrificing non-essential purchases — and, perhaps above all, seeking out more affordable supermarkets. But are our favorite, go-to grocery stores actually giving us the best value?
To help answer that burning question, Consumer Reports and the Strategic Resource Group, a New York-based consumer goods and retail consulting firm, compared food prices at over 30 retailers across six metro areas to determine the most and least expensive supermarket chains in the United States. Walmart, the largest grocery chain in the country, was used as the baseline retailer, meaning all supermarkets in the study were determined to be either more or less expensive than Walmart.
Their findings? Costco Wholesale, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Lidl, Aldi, WinCo and H-E-B were the least expensive grocery stores, with each averaging lower prices than Walmart. Among that group, warehouse club chains were determined to be the cheapest: Costco’s average prices were 21.4% less than Walmart’s and BJ’s were 21% lower. Costco also reigned supreme across major cities, according to metro-level data. In Boston, the price margin was especially wide, with Costco prices averaging an astounding 37% lower than Walmart.
As for the most expensive grocery chain, Whole Foods Market took the top prize. (That’s not much of a surprise, given its disparaging nickname of “Whole Paycheck.”) According to national data, Whole Foods’ prices were a whopping 39.7% higher on average than Walmart’s. That statistic varied across several metro regions. In Chicago, Whole Foods was bested by regional supermarket chain Jewel-Osco by 1.3%. And in Denver, it lost to Trader Joe’s by 0.4% on average prices.
But TJ’s may not be the bargain destination that its devotees think it is. On a national scale, the California-based retailer had average prices that were 24.6% higher than Walmart’s. It was also ranked the second-most expensive grocery store in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
In addition to Boston, Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth, Consumer Reports evaluated grocery prices in Denver, Virginia Beach, and the greater Los Angeles and Southern California area.
“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,” according to a Consumer Reports article.
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The Strategic Resource Group also collected price data in person from stores in late summer 2025. Prices for individual metro areas were collected within 48 hours, while final prices “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.”
