Pennsylvania has nation’s highest grocery price hikes: report

The state of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia are where you can find the highest increase in grocery prices over the last year, according to a report from Consumer Affairs.

Overall, grocery prices in the U.S. have gone up 5.3% year-over-year, but grocery inflation has varied from as much as 5% from state to state.

Consumer Affairs, a customer review and consumer news platform, partnered with market intelligence provider Datasembly and looked at grocery price data in 15 categories covering 150,000 stores.

When it comes to states, Pennsylvania has experienced the biggest hike in grocery prices at 8.2%. Vermont (7%), Maryland (7%), West Virginia (6.9%), and New Jersey (6.8%) round out the top five.

On the flip side, Colorado posts the lowest price hikes at 2.9% followed by Arizona (3.3%), North Carolina (3.5%), Michigan (3.5%), and Virginia (3.6%).

As for cities, Philadelphia is No. 1 at 7.4%. The next two are in the state of New York—Albany at 7.2% and Syracuse at 7.1%—and Baltimore (7%) and Boston (6.7%) are four and five, respectively.

Grocery prices have risen just 2.3% in Richmond, Va., the city with the lowest price hikes, while San Diego sits at just 3.3%.

However, the report shows shoppers in rural areas (7.6% year-over-year increase) are paying more than urban areas (5.6%). In fact, Datasembly found the biggest rise in prices came in ZIP codes where the average income is $35,000 to $50,000.

Consumer Affairs attributes the reason for the difference is because of a lack of competition—there are far less grocery stores in rural areas than there are in metropolitan areas. Rural grocery stores also work directly with wholesalers instead of manufacturers, which makes prices higher.

So which grocery categories are more expensive now than what they were in 2022? Baby formula (17.5% rise), candy/gum (9.7%), pet food (8.5%), cookies/crackers (6.6%), and beverages (6.5%).