6 Grocery Staples That Cost South Carolina Shoppers Far More Than in 2005, and 4 Have More Than Doubled
You don’t need us to tell you that you pay more for groceries now than in August 2005.
But do you know how much more?
These are the grocery staples that cost South Carolina shoppers far more than in 2005. Some have more than doubled for shoppers across the South.
Where These Prices Come From
The grocery prices below come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which publishes average prices for about 70 foods nationwide.
BLS also publishes them for four regions when its sample is large enough.
The South region has 16 states plus Washington, D.C., and South Carolina is one of them.
That makes every price you see below a Southern average, not a South Carolina price.
That’s the catch.
BLS notes that its price sample is optimized for calculating price indexes, not average prices, so you should read these figures as estimates.
Rice and chuck roast aren’t on this list, though both more than doubled in the South too.
Every comparison below runs from August 2005 to August 2026, the latest month available when this was written.
These are the staples, starting with the biggest percentage jump since August 2005.
1. Eggs
In August 2005, you paid about 85 cents for a dozen large Grade A eggs.
By August 2026, a dozen averaged $2.34, about 2.7 times as much.
Your $20 covered more than 23 dozen then and covers fewer than nine dozen now.
Nationwide, avian influenza losses totaled 50.7 million egg-laying hens from mid-October 2024 through early March 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.
The same agency says retail egg prices nationwide surged to all-time highs by February 2025.
2. Ground Beef
Ground beef went from $2.35 a pound in August 2005 to $6.41 in August 2026.
That’s a $4.06 rise, the largest in dollars of any staple on this list.
If you’re feeding a crowd with five pounds, you paid about $12 then and pay about $32 now.
For the price of one pound today, you could have bought more than two and a half pounds in August 2005.
3. Sugar
Sugar averaged 41 cents a pound in August 2005 and $1.06 in August 2026, more than 2.5 times as much.
If you buy a five-pound bag, you pay about $5.30 now, against about $2.06 then.
Your $20 buys fewer than 19 pounds now, down from more than 48.
4. Whole Chicken
Whole chicken cost 93 cents a pound in August 2005.
A pound averaged $1.93 in August 2026, which is 2.1 times as much and just over double.
If you roast a four-pound chicken, you paid about $3.72 for it then and pay about $7.72 now.
Of the four staples that more than doubled, whole chicken rose the least.
What BLS Counts as Each Staple
BLS prices the eggs here as large Grade A eggs, sold by the dozen.
BLS prices ground beef as 100% beef, and whole chicken as fresh and whole.
BLS prices bread as white pan bread, sugar as white sugar in all sizes, and potatoes as white potatoes.
If you buy a different grade of eggs, your price can differ from this average.
5. White Potatoes
If you buy a 10-pound sack of white potatoes, you pay about $4.50 more than you did in August 2005.
White potatoes averaged 57 cents a pound then and $1.02 now, so a sack went from $5.69 to $10.22.
That’s about 80% more, the first staple on this list below a doubling.
6. White Bread
White bread averaged 99 cents a pound in August 2005 and $1.72 in August 2026, about 75% more.
In August 2005, your $20 bought about 20 pounds of white bread.
Today you get fewer than 12 pounds for the same $20.
Psst! Want these staples side by side? Sort the table below and see which one jumped the most.
The Overall Price Rise
Staples weren’t the only prices to rise, as the BLS all-items index for the South went from 189.4 in August 2005 to 323.4 in August 2026.
In plain terms, something you paid $100 for in August 2005 costs about $171 now.
Each staple numbered above rose by more than 71%.
Staples That Trailed Inflation
Bacon, flour and tomatoes rose by less than that 71%, so they aren’t numbered above.
Bacon cost $3.63 a pound in August 2005 and $6.10 in August 2026, a 68% rise.
A pound of all-purpose flour rose 61%, from 30 cents in August 2005 to 49 cents in August 2026.
Field-grown tomatoes rose 46%, from $1.42 a pound in August 2005 to $2.07, so two pounds cost you about $4.14 now.
You still pay more for all three than you did in August 2005.
Psst! How much do you know about your grocery bill? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Grocery Price Pop Quiz
Answer these questions on grocery prices since 2005. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Between August 2005 and August 2026, which of these grocery staples more than doubled in its national average price?
One of Each in Your Cart
If you put one dozen eggs and a pound each of the other five staples above in your cart, the bill was about $6.10 in August 2005.
The same cart costs about $14.50 in August 2026, or roughly 2.4 times as much.
Ground beef is $6.41 of that total, more than any other item in the cart.
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