10 Most Expensive Cities for Groceries

While prices are not rising nearly as fast as when inflation peaked at over 9.1% in June 2022, costs are still stubbornly high for one purchase that is a necessity for every family in America — food.

It was recently reported that grocery prices rose by 25% over the last four years compared to the overall inflation rate of 19%. According to a new study from HelpAdvisor, the average household now spends roughly $1,080 per month on groceries, or $270.21 per week — but families in the following 10 cities spend even more.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $277.54

While the cost of living is 4% higher than the national average in Atlanta, the cost of groceries is 7% cheaper — during normal times, at least.

According to Atlanta News First, the historic inflation of 2022 hit the city harder than the country as a whole to begin with. Then at the end of 2023, Axios reported that energy costs and supply chain issues pushed food prices in Atlanta to record highs even as prices dropped nationwide. At the same time, a local news outlet reported that regional drought was sending grocery prices up even higher.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $278.91

The cost of living in the Windy City is 11% higher than the national average, with residents there paying 5% more for groceries. But high urban living costs are only part of why Chicagoans pay so much at the supermarket.

In June 2023, CBS News reported that city leaders were reinstating a 1% grocery tax that they suspended the year before to help residents cope with inflation.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $282.21

Day-to-day life in Dallas is 2% cheaper than in America as a whole, with groceries usually costing 5% less than the national average. So why is the city among the only 10 in America where residents pay more than average?

According to the Dallas Morning News, grocery prices soared in the Dallas-Forth Worth area because retailer lease rates and supermarket wages increased at the same time.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $282.60

The infamously unforgiving cost of living in New York City is 46% higher than the national average, but most of that is due to housing. Big Apple residents pay just 5% more on groceries than the typical American.

Like Dallas, reports show that high labor costs and expensive commercial leases are mostly to blame, although another consideration is the high cost of delivering food in the congested, densely populated city.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $289.33

Despite New York’s reputation for prohibitive living costs, Seattle is actually the more expensive city, with daily life costing 55% more than the national average. While the city’s unforgiving housing costs are mostly to blame, Seattle residents spend 25% more on groceries than the average American.

Local officials say a lack of competition is a contributing factor. In January, the state attorney general filed a lawsuit in King County, which includes Seattle, to prevent Albertsons and Kroger from merging. According to the lawsuit, the two grocery chain giants already account for 50% of Washington’s food stores and the merger would create a near-monopoly in some communities.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $295.33

Los Angelenos pay 11% more for groceries than the typical American, contributing to an overall cost of living that’s 49% higher than the national average.

According to the L.A. Times, a familiar culprit puts the city in the country’s top five most expensive grocery markets — rising labor costs. The state minimum wage increased to $17 an hour in January.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $298.44

In San Francisco, groceries cost 31% more than in the country as a whole, contributing to a sky-high cost of living that’s 103% more expensive than the national average.

According to the San Francisco Gate, the city’s high wages and astronomical “cost of doing business” conspire to keep food prices high.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $300.50

Part of California’s Inland Empire east of L.A. and Anaheim, Riverside residents pay 11% more for groceries than the typical American, which contributes to a cost of living that’s 25% more than the national average.

Tough choices at the supermarket are nothing new for the area’s locals. In 2022, the Daily Bulletin reported that reports of hunger and malnutrition were rising in Riverside and neighboring San Bernardino as food prices soared in the remote and often underserved Inland Empire.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $302.65

While Houston is one of only three cities with an average weekly household grocery bill over $300, it’s one of two Texas cities to make the top 10. That, according to the Austin American-Statesman, is because the Lonestar State has suffered disproportionately from price-gouging, supply chain woes and overall inflation in the post-COVID era.

Normally, the cost of living is 8% cheaper than the national average and groceries are 6% cheaper.

• Average weekly household grocery bill: $327.89

No one pays more for food than residents of Miami, where groceries cost 20% more than the national average and the cost of living is 14% higher than in the country as a whole.

For context as to just how expensive groceries are in Miami, the HelpAdvisor study found that Florida is the No. 5 most expensive state in America for groceries, with Sunshine State residents spending an average of $287.27 per week. Even so, Miami residents pay $40.62 more per week than statewide residents, or more than $162 more per month.

Note: All cost-of-living data is from AreaVibes.