Bay Staters Watched Dunkin’s Medium Iced Latte Rise From $3.89 in 2019 to $4.39 in 2022, and Coffee Prices Continue to Increase

Coffee prices were 6.1 percent higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Many Bay Staters have felt the jump.

Dunkin’s medium iced latte rose from $3.89 in 2019 to $4.39 in 2022 at one Boston store, the Boston Globe found.

The trend isn’t looking promising for coffee lovers.

The Globe’s Menu Check

The Boston Globe’s July 2022 story on Dunkin’ prices started with a partial menu a Yelp user posted in October 2019 for the Dunkin’ at 235 Washington St. in Boston.

That menu priced a medium latte, hot or iced, at $3.89.

When the Globe checked in 2022, the iced version was $4.39.

Hot latte stayed at $3.89.

At $4.39, you’d pay about 13 percent more for the iced latte than the 2019 menu showed.

If you buy 52 iced lattes a year, the extra 50 cents adds up to $26.

The story’s headline opened with the word “Dunkinflation.”

The Globe, citing data technology company Knoema, reported that the Arabica beans Dunkin’ uses cost $2.13 a pound in July 2022, more than double February 2020’s $1.04.

The Globe also reported in July 2022 that milk cost 16.4 percent more than in June 2021, citing the BLS.

Cold Brew and Hot Coffee by Store

Dunkin’s medium cold brew with almond milk and sweetener cost $3.25 at 1148 Beacon St. in January 2020, based on a Twitter user’s price.

The Globe found the same drink at $3.55 plus a 50-cent surcharge in 2022, for a total of $4.05.

If you ordered that drink in 2022, you paid 80 cents more than the Twitter user did in January 2020, 30 cents of it in the base price.

The Globe also checked a medium hot coffee at three Greater Boston Dunkin’ locations in 2022.

The price before tax was $2.85 at the Massachusetts Transportation Building, $2.95 at North Station and $2.99 on Washington Street.

The gap was 14 cents.

Grocery Coffee Prices Since 2022

In October 2019, when that Yelp menu was posted, ground roast coffee averaged $4.17 a pound across the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

By July 2022, the month the Globe published its Dunkin’ story, the average was $6.11 a pound.

It reached $7.02 in January 2025 and $8.87 in August 2025.

That’s $1.85 in seven months.

The latest BLS figure, for August 2026, was $9.30 a pound.

That is $3.19 more a pound than in July 2022.

It is also more than double the October 2019 average.

At the August 2026 average, a pound of ground roast every month costs you about $38 more a year than at the July 2022 average.

The BLS figures are U.S. averages, so your Boston supermarket may charge more or less.

Boston Coffee Since January 2025

Coffee prices in Boston had risen more than 36 percent since January 2025, the Boston Globe reported on November 30, 2025.

If you bought coffee at a Boston supermarket in September 2025, the Globe's analysis of Datasembly data put the average at $17.24 a pound.

That was almost twice the national figure of $9.14, which the Globe took from the Federal Reserve.

The BLS ground roast average for that month was $9.14 as well.

The two figures come from different sources, so the gap is a rough guide.

Boston public radio station WBUR reported in December 2025 that the median price of a cup of coffee in Boston rose to more than $4 in November.

The figure comes from the restaurant software company Toast.

That was more than 45 cents above the national median.

A pound of supermarket coffee and a cup of restaurant coffee are different measures, so you can't compare them directly.

The Globe tied the rise to tariffs, drought and supply disruptions.

Beans from Brazil, the largest U.S. supplier, had faced 50 percent tariffs since August 2025, according to the Globe.

The Globe also reported that President Trump had signed an executive order lowering tariffs on coffee and several other imported foods.

Summer 2026 Dip, Still Higher on the Year

Coffee prices rose 6.1 percent over the 12 months through August 2026, according to the BLS coffee price index.

If you buy groceries, food at home overall rose 2.2 percent over the same 12 months.

The average price of ground roast, a single type of coffee, rose 4.8 percent over those 12 months.

The 6.1 percent figure comes from the BLS index for coffee, so the two numbers measure different things.

After a dip to $9.05 in December 2025, the average price of ground roast rose each month to $9.72 in April 2026.

The average price then dropped four months in a row, from May through August.

If you bought a pound of ground roast in August 2026, the BLS average says it cost about 4.4 percent less than in April.

The BLS coffee index, adjusted for the time of year, fell 2.0 percent from May to June and 0.1 percent from June to July.