9 Items Floridians Are Better Off Buying at Walmart Than Publix

In a fall 2025 price survey of Palm Beach County stores, Publix’s basket of 30 everyday groceries topped out at $109.62.

The same 30 items rang up at $76.65 at Walmart, nearly $33 less for an identical list.

Publix still earns loyalty with BOGO deals and a staff that will walk a shopper straight to what they need, but it isn’t the cheapest grocery store in Florida, and it doesn’t claim to be.

These are the items you’re better off buying at Walmart than Publix.

1. Russet Potatoes

Publix charges $6.07 for a 5-pound bag of russet potatoes, averaged across six Palm Beach County stores, per an October 2025 Stet News price count.

Walmart’s price for the same bag has moved since then. It’s $3.57 today, up from the $1.97 Stet News found last fall.

That’s still $2.50 less for the same size bag at Walmart, even after the increase.

Walmart also stocks 25- and 50-pound bags for shoppers who cook for a crowd.

2. Canned Pumpkin

Publix’s Libby’s canned pumpkin rang up at $2.87 a can in Stet News’ October 2025 count.

Aldi’s own-brand pumpkin puree cost $1.09 that same month.

Neither store posts current prices online to recheck.

But Walmart’s Great Value pumpkin puree, the closest same-day comparison available, runs $1.96 today, still well under what Publix charged last fall.

That’s a wide gap on a pantry staple.

3. Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes at Publix ran $1.51 a pound in Stet News’ October 2025 count, the highest price of any store Stet visited, including Whole Foods and The Fresh Market.

Aldi’s sweet potatoes cost 65 cents a pound that same month.

Buy five pounds at Publix and the October tab ran $4.30 more than the same five pounds at Aldi.

That’s a steep markup.

The USDA forecasts a 5.9% rise in fresh vegetable prices in 2026. Walmart’s loose sweet potatoes cost $1.27 a pound today, almost double Aldi’s fall price, so the Publix-Aldi gap has likely narrowed some, even though Publix still costs more per pound.

4. All-Purpose Flour

A 5-pound bag of Gold Medal flour costs $4.99 at Publix, per Stet News’ October 2025 count.

Walmart’s own Great Value flour, same 5-pound size, runs $2.38 today, up slightly from the $2.18 Stet News found in October.

A shopper could buy two bags of the Walmart flour for $4.76 combined and still spend 23 cents less than one bag at Publix.

That’s the bargain here.

A shopper gets double the flour for less money.

Baking season gets a lot cheaper somewhere else.

5. Large Eggs

Publix charged $3.11 for a dozen large eggs in Stet News’ October 2025 count, more than Aldi, Walmart, or Winn-Dixie rang up that same month.

Egg prices have fallen since then. The USDA forecasts retail egg prices dropping 30.8% in 2026. Walmart’s Great Value large eggs run $1.67 a dozen in an August 2026 check.

Eggs got cheap again.

That’s roughly half what Publix charged last fall.

Publix hasn’t posted a current price online to check, and Stet News priced eggs only once, on Oct. 28, 2025.

6. Butter

A pound of butter cost $4.79 at Publix in Stet News’ October 2025 survey.

The same pound at Aldi cost $3.49 that same month.

Butter isn’t cheap anywhere.

But Walmart’s Great Value salted butter shows how far prices have moved since fall: $3.06 a pound in an August 2026 check, even below Aldi’s number from October.

Publix’s butter price sat at the top of the local range in October, above every store Stet News checked except The Fresh Market.

Walmart’s own price that same day was $3.67, so the same-trip gap was $1.12 a pound. That adds up around the holidays, when a household might buy four or six pounds at once.

7. Whole Milk

A gallon of whole milk runs close to $4 at Publix, per Stet News’ count.

Walmart’s Great Value whole milk costs $3.07 a gallon in an August 2026 check, and Aldi kept milk in that same $3 range when Stet News checked.

It adds up yearly.

A dollar a gallon sounds small.

A family going through two gallons a week is paying Publix an extra hundred dollars or so a year.

8. Ready-to-Roll Pie Crusts

Publix wants $4.48 for a box of two refrigerated pie crusts, per Stet News’ fall 2025 price count.

Walmart sold the same box for $2.71 that same trip. Winn-Dixie charged $3.50, and Aldi undercut both at $1.95.

Even Winn-Dixie beats it.

Every mainstream grocer Stet News checked beat Publix on pie crust, not just the discounters.

A homemade pie shouldn’t cost more in crust than in filling.

9. Corn on the Cob

Eight ears of corn cost $6.40 at Publix in Stet News’ fall 2025 count, or 80 cents an ear.

Walmart charged $5.36 for the same eight ears that same trip, closer to 67 cents apiece. Walmart set a trash bin beside the display so shoppers could shuck the ears there.

Still, Publix costs more.

The gap works out to 13 cents an ear.

At two north county Publix stores, Stet News reporters found corn with black marks and discolored tassels.

Almost $33 More at Publix

Publix’s basket of 30 everyday groceries came to $109.62 in Stet News’ fall 2025 survey of Palm Beach County stores.

Walmart rang up the identical list for $76.65 in the same trip, a $32.97 difference for the same groceries.

That’s about 43% more.

Potatoes alone accounted for more than $4 of it.

The rest is spread thin across the list, a dollar or two per item, month after month.