See how Walmart grocery prices have changed from 2020 to 2026! I recreated an old grocery order to compare the 2020 vs. 2026 grocery prices of 37 different items. We’ll take a look at the biggest price increases, the items that have barely changed at all, and we’ll even touch a bit on the topic of shrinkflation.
A few weeks ago, I went back and recreated a grocery haul from 2019 at Aldi. I bought all the same things and compared the prices, and the results were kind of crazy.
So today, I wanted to do the same type of grocery price comparison experiment, but this time at Walmart.
I went back to a grocery order I placed at Walmart in September 2020. I printed out the entire order including the prices and package sizes, and I went to Walmart to see what those exact same items cost in September 2026.
The results were pretty interesting.
Some things have gone up dramatically, while others have barely changed at all. I also wanted to look at shrinkflation, since several people brought that up after my previous grocery price comparison.
Prefer video? Watch me compare the 2020 vs. 2026 grocery prices here.
Comparing the Same Walmart Grocery Order from 2020 and 2026
This was a fairly large grocery order. There were 37 separate items on the original 2020 order.
Here’s the full price comparison chart with all the groceries and the 2020 vs. 2026 grocery prices:
| Item | Size | 2020 Price | 2026 Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Value Fine Green Beans | 12 oz | $1.34 | $1.97 |
| Marketside Butter Lettuce Salad | 6 oz | $1.98 | $3.68 |
| Great Value Sweet Peas | 12 oz | $0.77 | $0.98 |
| Jazz Apples | 3 lb bag | $3.97 | $3.99 |
| Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast | 4 oz | $4.58 | $5.53 |
| Great Value Sweet Cream Salted Butter | 4 count, 16 oz | $2.98 | $3.06 |
| Great Value Half & Half | 32 fl oz | $1.60 | $2.48 |
| Red Potatoes | 5 lb bag | $5.47 | $5.44 |
| TOMBSTONE ORIGINAL Pepperoni Frozen Pizza | 19.3 oz | $3.87 | $4.82 |
| Great Value Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese | 32 oz | $5.34 | $6.92 |
| Great Value Large White Eggs | 12 count × 2 | $1.60 | $3.34 |
| Great Value Cream Cheese | 8 oz | $0.80 | $1.56 |
| Prego Three Cheese Italian Sauce | 24 oz | $1.84 | $2.53 |
| Great Value Tomato Basil Garlic Sauce | 2 | $1.76 | $3.94 |
| Great Value Grated Parmesan Cheese | 8 oz | $2.36 | $3.12 |
| Great Value Basil Leaves | 0.80 oz | $0.98 | $1.08 |
| Great Value Parsley Flakes | 0.4 oz | $0.98 | $1.08 |
| Great Value Deli Style Sliced Non-Smoked Provolone Cheese | 12 count, 8 oz | $1.84 | $1.67 |
| Great Value Thin Sliced Smoked Ham | 9 oz | $2.08 | $3.57 |
| Great Value Multi-Grain Bread | 24 oz × 2 | $3.96 | $5.48 |
| Great Value Shells Pasta | 16 oz | $0.82 | $0.98 |
| Great Value Light Brown Sugar | 2 lb | $1.32 | $1.98 |
| Great Value All Purpose Baking Mix | 40 oz | $1.98 | $3.98 |
| Abuelita Authentic Mexican Hot Chocolate Drink Tablets | 19 oz | $3.18 | $5.82 |
| Great Value Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese | 32 oz | $5.34 | $6.92 |
| Great Value Whole Milk | 1 gallon, 128 fl oz | $2.66 | $2.46 |
| Great Value Mini Twist Pretzels | 16 oz | $0.82 | $2.66 |
| Great Value Honey Nut O’s Oat Breakfast Cereal | 21.6 oz | $2.93 | $3.02 for 19.5 oz |
| Freshness Guaranteed French Bread | 14 oz | $1.00 | $1.47 |
| Great Value Original Taco Seasoning Mix | 1 oz × 2 | $0.88 | $0.94 |
| Great Value Whole Kernel Corn | 12 oz | $0.77 | $0.98 |
| Great Value 100% Whole Wheat Bread, Round Top | 20 oz | $1.48 | $3.94 |
| Great Value 8″ Flour Tortillas | 10 count | $1.48 | $1.98 |
| Great Value Unsweetened Applesauce | 46 oz | $1.98 | $3.64 |
| Bolthouse Farms Peeled Baby Cut Carrots | 1 lb bag | $0.98 | $1.32 |
| Tomatoes on the Vine | Avg. 1.4 lb cluster | $1.48 | $2.97 |
| All Natural 73% Lean/27% Fat Ground Beef Roll | 3 lb | $7.98 | $17.44 |
| Total | $87.18 | $126.77 |
That’s a 45% increase in total price from 2020 – 2026.
Now let’s talk about some of the biggest changes!
The 10 Biggest Grocery Price Increases
Let’s start with the bad news, shall we?
I ranked the 10 items with the largest percentage increases, starting with number 10 and working our way up to the item that increased the most.
10. Great Value Lunch Meat: 72% Increase
A 9-ounce package of Great Value lunch meat was $2.08 in 2020. In 2026, that same size package is $3.57.
That’s a 72% increase in price.
9. Applesauce: 84% Increase
Applesauce was $1.98 in 2020 and is now $3.64.
That’s an 84% increase.
8. Butter Lettuce: 86% Increase
I don’t really buy butter lettuce anymore, but apparently I was buying it back in 2020 haha.
A package was $1.98 in 2020 and is now $3.68 for the same size package.
That’s an 86% increase.
7. Abuelita Mexican Hot Chocolate: 86% Increase
This one makes me sad because we love this stuff!
If you’re not familiar with Abuelita, it’s a chocolate tablet that you use to make Mexican hot chocolate, also called champurrado. We make it pretty regularly during the winter and I think it totally beats regular hot chocolate.
In 2020, a package was $3.18. Today, it’s $5.92.
That’s another 86% increase. And yes, we’re still going to buy it.
6. Great Value Cream Cheese: 95% Increase
This one surprised me! Great Value cream cheese was only 80 cents in 2020. Today, it’s $1.56.
That’s a 95% increase in price.
It’s pretty crazy to look at some of these old prices and realize just how inexpensive certain groceries used to be.
5. Great Value Baking Mix: 101% Increase
Great Value Baking Mix isn’t something I buy super often, but I’ll occasionally get it to use in a taco quiche recipe that I make. It saves me a lot of time, and you can also use it for pancakes and other things.
It was $1.98 in 2020. Now in 2026 it’s $3.98.
That’s a 101% increase.
I’m kind of glad I don’t use it very often!
4. Eggs: 109% Increase
A dozen eggs at Walmart cost just 80 cents in 2020. Today, that same dozen is $1.67.
That’s a 109% increase.
Now, as you know, egg prices skyrocketed even higher just a couple of years ago, so I’m really not complaining about $1.67 for a dozen eggs. But when I see that they used to be 80 cents, I definitely miss those days!
3. Ground Beef: 119% Increase
We talked about ground beef in my Aldi grocery price comparison too, because ground beef has gone up quite a lot.
Back in 2020, I paid $7.98 for 3 pounds of the basic 73/27 ground beef at Walmart. Today, that same amount costs $17.44.
That’s a 119% increase.
Ground beef is definitely one of those grocery items where I’ve noticed a major difference over the past few years. Such a bummer!
2. Great Value Pasta Sauce: 124% Increase
This one was surprisingly high on my list. A glass container of Great Value pasta sauce was only 88 cents in 2020. Today, it’s $1.97.
That’s a 124% increase.
1. Pretzels: 224% Increase
And here we are at number one.
If you watched my Aldi grocery price comparison, you might have guessed that pretzels would be high on the list. Pretzels have absolutely skyrocketed in price, and I’m not totally sure why. It’s kind of weird.
Maybe because they were such a cheap item, it seemed like an easy place for stores to increase their margins. I don’t know.
But in 2020, a bag of pretzels at Walmart was just 82 cents. Today, that same size bag is $2.66.
That’s a 224% increase. So pretzels had the biggest price increase on this particular grocery list by far.
But There Are Some Grocery Prices That Have Barely Changed
It’s not all bad news though! There were actually three items on my list that were slightly cheaper when I checked them in 2026.
Milk
A gallon of milk was $2.66 in 2020. Now in 2026 it is $2.46 – 20 cents less. That’s especially nice to see because my family goes through a lot of milk these days!
Sliced Provolone Cheese
Great Value sliced provolone cheese was $1.84 in 2020. Today, it was $1.67, which is 17 cents less.
Red Potatoes
A 5-pound bag of red potatoes was $5.47 in 2020. Today, it was $5.44. That’s just three cents less, so I would basically consider that the same price.
What About Shrinkflation?
After my previous grocery price comparison video, several people mentioned that I shouldn’t forget about shrinkflation. And that’s a really good point to bring up!
If a product gets smaller while the price stays the same or goes up, just comparing the sticker price doesn’t tell the whole story.
Thankfully, I could look back at my complete Walmart grocery order from 2020 and see the exact package sizes I bought. I was able to compare the ounces and other measurements to make sure I was actually comparing the same amount of food.
Interestingly, I didn’t see much shrinkflation in this particular grocery order. In fact, all but one of the items were still available in the same size.
The exception was cereal.
Cereal: A 3% Price Increase Becomes a 14% Increase Per Ounce
In 2020, I bought a box of Great Value Cheerios that was around 21 ounces. Today, the box is 19.5 ounces.
The price itself is only about 3% higher than it was in 2020. At first glance, that doesn’t seem too bad. But once you account for the fact that you’re getting fewer ounces, the actual price increase works out to about 14%.
That’s why shrinkflation is worth paying attention to.
I found it interesting that I didn’t see other examples of shrinkflation in this particular grocery order, although I have definitely noticed it with other products I’ve bought in the past year or two.
I’m curious: Have you noticed shrinkflation with any of the groceries you regularly buy?
I’d love to hear what you’ve actually compared and found to be smaller.
So How Much More Did the Entire Grocery Order Cost?
My original grocery order cost $87.18 in 2020. If I bought those same groceries in 2026, the total would be $126.77.
That’s a 45% increase overall.
So yes, there were individual items that had increased by more than 100%, including pretzels at 224%. But we also had several items that were basically the same price or even slightly cheaper.
When everything was added together, the entire grocery order was 45% more expensive than it was in 2020.
Of course, keep in mind that your experience is going to depend a lot on what you buy. If your grocery cart is mostly milk, butter and other items that have stayed relatively stable in price, you’re not going to see the same kind of increase.
But if you’re buying a lot of meat and other items like pasta sauce, cream cheese, or pretzels that have seen much larger increases, your grocery bill is going to look very different.
What About Other Grocery Prices?
Obviously, this is just one grocery order from 2020 and I was only comparing the items that were included on that particular list, so it doesn’t tell us how much the prices of all groceries have changed.
Just for fun I did go back and look at another Walmart grocery order from 2020 to get an idea of how much baking products have gone up in price since I didn’t have any of them in my first grocery order.
A 10-pound bag of flour that I bought in 2020 was $2.24. Today, it is $4.62, which is a 106% increase. Sugar was up almost 50%, while oats were up about 57%.
So while those items weren’t part of the main grocery order I compared, they showed some similar patterns.
Yes, Groceries Really Are More Expensive Now
Seeing these numbers is pretty discouraging. Some of the increases are really significant, and it helps explain why so many of us feel like we’re spending more at the grocery store.
Because we are.
But I don’t want this comparison to leave you feeling like there’s nothing you can do about it. Saving money on groceries just takes a little more intentionality now.
Things like:
- Planning ahead with a meal plan
- Making a grocery list
- Comparing prices between different stores
- Watching for sales
- Using digital coupons when your store offers them
- Being flexible about which brands and products you buy
All of those little things can add up and help you spend less.
We’re going to spend more on groceries now than we did in 2020. That’s just how inflation works. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still be intentional about how we spend our grocery budget.
A big part of why I share videos and posts like this here on the blog is because I’m right there with you trying to figure it out how to feed my large family on a budget without spending gobs and gobs of money on food.
And I’d love to hear your advice, too!
What are your best tips for saving money on groceries right now? And what grocery item have you noticed has gone up the most in price?
Leave a comment and let me know!
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