The Receipt · February 2026
The Receipt — February 2026 Edition
Strawberries Prices Tumbled, but the Grocery Basket Barely Moved
Released February 13, 2026 · Data through January 2026
Retrieved September 11, 2026
The Basket Report Grocery Basket Price Index rose 0.2% in January 2026, landing at $110.44 for the 24-item staple basket. The year-over-year change was −0.5%. This issue is built from BLS CPI Average Price Data for the national U.S. city average.
The number
The grocery basket changed by ▲ 0.2% in January 2026, bringing the fixed 24-item basket total to $110.44.
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 January 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 coffee and bacon, while lettuce and eggs 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 January 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
- Coffee +$0.31 · +3.5% basket change
- Bacon +$0.22 · +3.2% basket change
- Cheddar cheese +$0.19 · +3.3% basket change
Reduced the basket
- Lettuce -$0.29 · −14.5% basket change
- Eggs -$0.27 · −5.0% basket change
- Pork chops -$0.26 · −5.6% basket change
Milk & eggs
Milk ran $4.10 a gallon in January 2026 — up 1.3% on the month and up 1.9% on the year — 3% below the November 2022 peak of $4.22. At the fixed basket quantity, that swing added $0.11 to the basket total this month. See the 2026 milk prices by month or the full milk price history.
Eggs averaged $2.58 a dozen, down 48.0% on the year and down 5.0% on the month — 59% below the March 2025 peak of $6.23. Track the swing on the egg price history or read why eggs got cheaper.
The read
Lettuce did the most work on the downside, subtracting $0.29 from the fixed basket on its own. Coffee moved the other way, adding $0.31. That split is the story of January 2026: a few lines moved sharply while the all-in basket changed −0.5% from a year ago.
For citation, use the Grocery Basket Price Index as the headline number: $110.44 for January 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strawberries /12-ounce package | $3.08 | −14.7% | −6.7% |
| Soda /12-ounce can | $0.61 | +11.5% | +5.0% |
| Pork chops /pound | $4.45 | −5.6% | −3.7% |
| Eggs /dozen | $2.58 | −5.0% | −48.0% |
| Chocolate Chip Cookies /pound | $5.35 | +4.4% | +9.3% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI Average Price Data. Retrieved September 11, 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.