Egg Prices Fell in September
The retail price of eggs fell sharply in September and is now down slightly from a year ago.
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Updated Oct. 24.
Retail egg prices fell sharply in September, according to the latest consumer price index. Prices are now slightly lower than they were in September 2024 — and are almost 44% below their record peak in March this year.
Wholesale prices are up in October, however, according to the latest weekly market report from the USDA, on moderate to good demand. Those increases may well translate into higher retail prices.
In recent months, egg prices have climbed down steadily from their historic highs of early 2025. Those spikes in late 2024 and early 2025 were driven by a virulent strain of avian flu that was devastating flocks nationwide. The threat remains but outbreaks have declined since then. One new outbreak of avian flu, in a small Indiana flock, was reported in the Oct. 24 market summary from the Agriculture Department. While avian flu cases are down sharply from their peak, 41.4 million egg-laying hens have been lost to the disease so far in 2025.
For more than three years, farmers have battled a fatal strain of bird flu that has persistently disrupted the U.S. egg supply. Large-scale outbreaks of the virus across multiple states from October to February took a massive toll on the U.S. flock of egg-laying hens. With limited supplies, shoppers at the time encountered skyrocketing prices, buying restrictions, empty store shelves and restaurant surcharges on eggs.
Egg prices now slightly lower than a year ago
The average cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs was $3.49 in September, down from $3.59 in August and well below the $6.23 recorded at their peak in March, according to data from the BLS, retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ FRED site.
The latest consumer price index, or CPI, shows the price index of eggs is down 4.7% from a month ago and down 1.3% from September 2024. Food prices overall rose 3.1% in the past year.
Avian flu remains a threat, and tariffs could impact prices as well, now that the U.S. has ramped up imports of shell eggs and other egg products (such as liquid eggs and dried eggs).
» MORE: Will prices ever go down?
BLS data tracking egg prices goes back to at least 1980, when large, Grade A eggs cost $0.88 a dozen, not adjusted for inflation. Before February 2022, the average cost of a dozen had largely stayed below $2 since March 2016. Then, the price of eggs more than doubled from the beginning of 2022 until hitting a peak of $4.82 per dozen in January 2023. Prices largely fell until September 2023 before returning to a steady climb. A new price record was set in March 2025 at $6.23 per dozen.
Why are eggs so expensive?
Egg prices have repeatedly hit record highs because of H5N1, a highly transmissible and fatal strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, that has devastated flocks of egg-laying hens.
Outbreaks started in early 2022 and quickly grew into the largest bird flu outbreak in U.S. history. When an outbreak occurs, egg producers are forced to cull their flocks, per USDA policy, which impacts the supply of eggs headed for grocery stores.
Generally, as the number of egg-layers shrinks, egg supplies tighten and egg prices rise. That’s for at least two reasons: First, consumer demand for eggs has held steady despite persistently high prices. The mismatch between supply and demand tends to drive prices up.
While cases are well off their peak, bird flu remains a threat.
