The Receipt · October 2026
The Receipt: Monthly Grocery Price Report
Lettuce Prices Jumped, but the Grocery Basket Barely Moved
Released October 14, 2026 · Data through September 2026
Retrieved October 14, 2026
The Basket Report Grocery Basket Price Index rose 0.2% in September 2026, landing at $111.35 for the 24-item staple basket. The year-over-year change was −2.2%. This issue is built from BLS CPI Average Price Data for the national U.S. city average.
Orange juice: July 2026 price carried forward because September was not published.
Pork chops: May 2026 price carried forward because September was not published.
The number
The grocery basket changed by ▲ 0.2% in September 2026, bringing the fixed 24-item basket total to $111.35.
The headline was relatively stable, but several individual items moved sharply underneath it.
The chart
The fixed-weight Grocery Basket Price Index from January 2020 through September 2026, shown as a national U.S. city average.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average price data. Basket Report analysis; BLS does not endorse this analysis.
What shoppers will notice
Shoppers may notice higher prices for lettuce and bacon, while ground beef and milk provided some offset. These figures are national U.S. city averages, so individual store prices will vary.
What moved the 24-item basket
Dollar figures show how each weighted item changed the headline basket total in September 2026. Percentages are effective basket changes; when a series resumes, they compare the new price with the carried price used in the prior basket month.
Increased the basket
- Lettuce +$0.16 · +11.2% basket change
- Bacon +$0.15 · +2.3% basket change
- Cheddar cheese +$0.15 · +2.5% basket change
Reduced the basket
- Ground beef -$0.26 · −1.9% basket change
- Milk -$0.25 · −2.9% basket change
- Potato chips -$0.08 · −1.2% basket change
Milk & eggs
Milk ran $4.11 a gallon in September 2026 — down 2.9% on the month and down 0.6% on the year — 5% below the June 2026 peak of $4.32. At the fixed basket quantity, that swing took $0.25 off the basket total this month. See the 2026 milk prices by month or the full milk price history.
Eggs averaged $2.27 a dozen, down 34.9% on the year and flat on the month — 64% below the March 2025 peak of $6.23. Track the swing on the egg price history or read why eggs got cheaper.
The read
Ground beef did the most work on the downside, subtracting $0.26 from the fixed basket on its own. Lettuce moved the other way, adding $0.16. That split is the story of September 2026: a few lines moved sharply while the all-in basket changed −2.2% from a year ago.
For citation, use the Grocery Basket Price Index as the headline number: $111.35 for September 2026, covering all 24 configured staples at the U.S. city average. Item pages below carry the underlying BLS series IDs, CSV/JSON downloads, charts, and embed codes for source-level follow-up.
Biggest price changes across all 36 tracked products
These percentage changes include reference-price series that do not carry weight in the 24-item basket.
| Item | Price | MoM | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lettuce /pound | $1.64 | +11.2% | −5.5% |
| Strawberries /12-ounce package | $2.84 | +10.2% | +10.4% |
| Chicken Legs /pound | $1.74 | +4.1% | −3.2% |
| Milk /gallon | $4.11 | −2.9% | −0.6% |
| Beef Roast /pound | $9.10 | −2.9% | +0.6% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI Average Price Data. Retrieved October 14, 2026 via the BLS Public Data API. BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.