Food at Home Prices

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks Food at Home prices under Consumer Price Index series CUSR0000SAF1, with 84 monthly observations running from January 2019 to January 2026. The CPI is indexed to the 1982–84 base period (= 100), so the latest value of 345.3 means food at home prices are about 345% of that early-1980s baseline. Over the 7-year window on this chart, the category has moved +34.6%, a cumulative change that compounds the monthly inflation readings most shoppers feel one trip at a time.

Year-over-year, food at home prices changed +2.9% between Jan 2025 and Jan 2026. The peak over this span hit 345.3 in January 2026, while the low sat at 256.5 in January 2019, a spread that frames how volatile this category has been versus broader food-at-home CPI. The 8 subcategories tracked beneath Food at Home often move independently, so the headline line here can mask which specific items are driving inflation up or down.

Why this matters: BLS CPI data is the same series the Federal Reserve uses to calibrate monetary policy, so it drives interest rate decisions that reach far beyond the grocery aisle. For household budgeting, comparing this category's total change (34.6%) against wage growth and overall food CPI tells you whether food at home is stretching or relieving your grocery budget. The annual averages table below lets you spot the inflection points year by year, and the subcategory breakdown (where available) shows which specific items are moving the most. Data updates monthly from bls.gov/cpi and feeds into every chart and percentage on this page.