Is Sam’s Club Cheaper Than Safeway? A Checkbook Study Offers Answers for Marylanders Near D.C.
Warehouse clubs come with a membership fee, so the question becomes whether you’ll make that money back in reduced grocery costs.
A price survey around Washington, D.C., found the savings can be big for Marylanders, though club package sizes complicate the math.
Here’s how Sam’s Club, Costco and BJ’s compared with Safeway, and what that gap means for Marylanders near D.C.
How the Prices Were Compared
Checkbook built its warehouse club comparison on a market basket of 150 grocery items.
Researchers priced that list at BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco, and Sam’s Club, then compared the results with Walmart, Target, and traditional supermarkets.
The clubs carried few if any of those items in the usual sizes.
So the researchers matched brands in any size and used unit prices, such as the price per pound, to line them up.
The report was last updated in November 2025.
It’s part of Checkbook’s Washington, D.C., area grocery ratings, so it’s a Washington-area snapshot, and you shouldn’t read it as a price list for every town.
The Washington-area coverage includes the District, Montgomery, Prince George’s and Howard counties in Maryland, and parts of Northern Virginia.
Safeway operates stores in Maryland.
The report doesn’t say which Safeway stores it priced, so the gap may not match what your local store charges.
We wouldn’t write Safeway off, since no store gets everything right, but the gap in this survey is hard to ignore.
These are the clubs that came in under Safeway’s prices, starting with the biggest gap.
Where the Clubs Landed
Sam’s Club led the pack, beating Safeway’s prices by 33%, the widest lead of the three clubs in the report.
Costco came in next at about 31% below Safeway, and BJ’s followed at about 28%, again on the same-brand items it could match.
Only five percentage points separate Sam’s Club from BJ’s.
That puts all three clubs about 28% to 33% below Safeway on the same-brand items.
What a 33% Gap Could Mean
Checkbook reports that Sam’s Club beat Safeway’s prices by 33%, but it doesn’t define what that percentage is measured from.
Read as 33% off Safeway’s price, a $100 cart would come to about $67 at Sam’s Club.
On that reading, the same cart would run about $69 at Costco and about $72 at BJ’s.
If the 33% is measured from Safeway’s price, Safeway’s cart would cost about 49% more than Sam’s Club’s.
On that reading, an $800 monthly cart at Safeway prices would cost about $264 less at Sam’s Club.
That assumes the club carried every item, and it’s before the membership fee.
The Walmart Yardstick
Walmart’s prices fall between Safeway’s and the warehouse clubs’ in Checkbook’s price checks.
BJ’s sat only about 12% below Walmart.
If you already shop at Walmart, a club may save you far less than the Safeway gap suggests.
Safeway and Harris Teeter, among other chains, ran about 25% above Walmart in the separate store-by-store comparison.
Those chains priced within a percent or two of each other, so trading one big chain for another may not change much.
Wegmans was the exception.
It came in about 10% below the average of those chains.
Where the Savings Shrink
Checkbook says the comparison isn’t apples-to-apples, since club items were usually larger than the sizes priced at other stores.
When the researchers looked for the same brands in any size, BJ’s stocked 71% of the 150 basket items, Sam’s Club 58%, and Costco 51%.
BJ’s stocked the most.
That means some brands on your list may not be on the club shelf at all.
Spoiled food can wipe out the savings, too.
The report says that if half of what you buy is wasted, you won’t save by buying in bulk.
Even so, all three clubs offer many shoppers significant savings.
Where Costco Beats Sam’s Club
Costco earned very high customer ratings for the quality of its meat.
Costco’s meat stood out.
It scored above average for produce quality and overall quality as well.
BJ’s and Sam’s Club scored considerably lower than Costco.
If meat is your biggest grocery item, Costco’s two-point price gap behind Sam’s Club may be worth paying.
That means the lowest prices and the top-rated meat sit at different clubs in this report.
Membership Fee Math
Sam’s Club lists a $60 yearly fee for its Club membership and $120 for Plus.
Costco’s annual report lists its U.S. yearly membership fee at $65.
On that reading, if Sam’s Club’s 33% edge held on your whole cart, that $60 fee would pay for itself after about $182 of Safeway-priced groceries over a year.
That’s roughly $15 a month.
On the same reading, at Costco’s 31% edge, the $65 fee breaks even at roughly $210 of Safeway-priced groceries over a year.
Checkbook warns that club savings might not justify a membership fee if you don’t visit often.
Psst! How much do you know about warehouse clubs? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Warehouse Club IQ
Answer these questions on Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJ’s. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
About what share of Costco members in the U.S. and Canada renewed their memberships at the end of fiscal 2025?
BJ's Fees and Maryland Clubs
If you shop in Maryland, BJ's had 12 clubs to choose from as of January 31, 2026.
BJ's annual report says its Club membership generally costs $60 a year, and Club+ costs $120.
On the same reading, at BJ's 28% edge, the $60 fee breaks even near $214 of Safeway-priced groceries.
Measured against Walmart's prices instead of Safeway's, Checkbook figures a BJ's member needs about $500 of groceries to cover the $60 fee.
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