Idahoans Live in Potato Country, but Potatoes Cost More Than in 2020
Potatoes have long been one of the cheaper ways to fill a plate.
Idahoans live where so many of them are grown, but national price data shows the bag at the store still costs more than it did a few years back.
Here’s how the price has moved, and what’s behind it.
Then and Now
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks average food prices.
In August 2020, a pound of white potatoes averaged 85.6 cents, across all varieties it samples.
By August 2026, the average was 97.6 cents. A pound cost less than a dollar in both months.
That’s 12 cents more on every pound in your cart, a rise of roughly 14%.
Buy a 10-pound bag and you’d pay $9.76 at those averages. In August 2020, it was $8.56.
That’s $1.20 more.
Both figures are U.S. city averages, so neither is an Idaho price.
The Years in Between
Did white potatoes get steadily more expensive between those two Augusts?
Not quite.
The average fell to 79.7 cents in August 2021, below the 85.6 cents of the year before.
That was the lowest of the seven Augusts from 2020 through 2026.
After that, it rose to 99.4 cents in August 2022 and to $1.094 in August 2023.
In the BLS series on the St. Louis Fed’s FRED database, no other month between January 2019 and August 2026 had a higher average.
At the August 2023 average, you’d have paid $10.94 for a 10-pound bag.
The August average then slipped to $1.006 in 2024 and $1.001 in 2025.
So you’d have paid more than a dollar a pound three Augusts running.
The average dropped to 84.7 cents in both December 2025 and March 2026.
From March on, the series rose every month, reaching 97.6 cents in August 2026.
That’s 2.5 cents below August 2025, and it ended the run of three Augusts above a dollar.
A Word of Caution on the Numbers
BLS says its average price for white potatoes is best used to show one month’s price level, not price change over time.
For change over time, use its Consumer Price Index (CPI) instead.
The CPI for potatoes rose 3.6% in the 12 months through August 2026.
The CPI for all items rose 3.4% over those months. So potato prices rose a little faster than prices overall.
The average price went the other way. It fell 2.5% over those same 12 months, from $1.001 to $0.976.
Average prices and the CPI can differ because of sample rotation, quality changes and shifting consumer tastes.
By that guidance, the 14% rise since August 2020 stretches what the average is best used for.
Your grocery receipt may show something different, since the average covers stores in U.S. cities.
What the Potato Average Covers
The BLS potato price is for one standard unit: one pound, or 453.6 grams.
BLS turns each retail price it collects into a price for that unit, then averages the results.
The average covers all kinds of white potatoes, organic or not.
A Third of the U.S. Crop
The U.S. Department of Agriculture counts crops through its National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
It counted about 14 billion pounds of Idaho potatoes in 2025.
The whole country harvested roughly 41.8 billion pounds that year.
Divide Idaho’s total by the national total and you get about 33.5%. That’s about one pound in every three.
Idaho farmers harvested 314,500 acres.
That’s about 44,500 pounds an acre.
Psst! How much do you know about potatoes? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Potato Price IQ
Answer these questions on potatoes, farm numbers and the prices in your grocery store. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
In October 1995, five small potatoes were grown on orbit aboard which Space Shuttle?
Farm Price Versus Shelf Price
What do Idaho potato farmers get for a pound of fresh-market potatoes, compared with what you pay?
About 5 cents in 2025, going by the NASS average of $5.30 for every 100 pounds sold fresh.
At that rate, a 10-pound bag of fresh-market potatoes would bring a grower roughly 53 cents.
Potatoes headed for processing averaged $9.15 per 100 pounds, or about 9 cents a pound.
Across all uses, Idaho growers averaged $8.10 per 100 pounds in 2025.
Growers nationwide averaged $10.80.
Pennies a pound.
The BLS average for white potatoes at U.S. city stores was 97.6 cents a pound in August 2026.
NASS reports what farmers get, while BLS tracks store prices. The two figures cover different years and measure different things.
So subtracting one from the other won't give you a markup.
Potatoes Next to Bananas and Tomatoes
White potatoes weren't alone.
Other items on the BLS list also cost more in August 2026 than in August 2020.
Bananas rose from 57.6 cents a pound to 65.2 cents, about 13.2%.
In the 12 months through August 2026, bananas slipped about 2.1%, from 66.6 cents to 65.2 cents.
That's close to the 2.5% drop in the white potato average.
The same limit applies to banana and tomato averages, which estimate price levels.
Field-grown tomatoes rose from $1.874 to $1.977 a pound, about 5.5%.
Tomatoes also rose in the 12 months through August 2026, from $1.925 to $1.977 a pound, about 2.7%.
At that price, you pay about twice as much for a pound of tomatoes as for a pound of white potatoes.
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