Potato Chip Prices Have Leveled Off Since 2025, but Pennsylvanians Still Pay 54% More Than in 2019

Pennsylvania has a snack-food hub in Hanover.

Utz says its founders began making them in Hanover in 1921, and Herr’s dates its start to 1946 in Lancaster.

Here’s how the national average price of potato chips has moved since 2019, and what that means for Pennsylvanians at the checkout.

The 2019 Baseline

Potato chips cost an average of $4.382 for 16 ounces in August 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

That’s the U.S. city average, a national figure rather than a Pennsylvania price.

Averages like this work best for the price level in a particular month.

So the 54% in the title is a gap between two August levels, not a precise inflation rate.

Sixteen ounces is one pound of chips, so you were paying about 27 cents an ounce.

If you shopped for chips at any point in 2019, the national average ran from $4.377 in July to $4.692 in November.

That’s a swing of about 31 cents in 2019 alone.

Then came 2020.

The Run-Up

The run-up in potato chip prices started in spring 2020, when the average went from $4.630 in March to $5.087 in June.

By August 2020, you were paying $5.070 for that pound of chips, 15.7% more than the $4.382 of August 2019.

A year later, in August 2021, the average was $5.111, barely higher.

In August 2022, though, it hit $5.941, a 16.2% jump in one year.

A month later, September 2022 came in at $6.058, exactly $1 above September 2021’s $5.058.

By October 2022 you were looking at an average of $6.402, up 21.4% from $5.273 a year earlier.

A steep year.

The Peak

By August 2023, the average for potato chips had reached $6.463, a gain of 8.8% in a year.

October 2023 reached $6.682, the series high at that point.

In August 2024 it slipped 3.4% to $6.246, but by September 2024 it was back to $6.466.

The average then rose through spring 2025 and reached $6.815 in June, the highest reading to that point.

The August 2025 average was $6.751, up 8.1% from August 2024.

September 2025 set the high for the whole series from 2019 through August 2026: $6.971.

If you bought chips that September, you paid $2.589 more for a pound than the $4.382 average of August 2019.

That was the top.

The Leveling Off

Potato chip prices have stopped rising, at least for now: The BLS average for August 2026 is $6.751, the same figure as August 2025.

That is 22 cents, or about 3%, below the September 2025 peak.

The series lists no price for October 2025, so the first reading after the peak is $6.821 in November, followed by $6.788 in December.

January 2026 dipped to $6.629, and February’s $6.827 was the highest reading of 2026 through August.

March came in at $6.712 and April at $6.748, so a pound of chips cost you about the same in both months.

After May’s $6.580 and June’s $6.632, July hit $6.559, the lowest posted reading from September 2025 through August 2026.

August rose back to $6.751, up 2.9% from July.

Against the same month a year earlier, the average price was 7.8% higher in September 2025 and 7.3% higher in December.

It was 2.4% higher in January 2026, 5.6% higher in February and 2.1% higher in April.

By May it was 2.2% lower, and by July it was 3.5% lower.

Over those 12 months, the overall Consumer Price Index rose 3.4% and grocery prices rose 2.2%, so the rest of your cart got pricier while chips ended where they began.

Flat isn’t cheaper, though.

Psst! How much do you know about potato chip history? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.

Quiz

Potato Chip Pop Quiz

Answer these questions on potato chips and snack-food history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?

Question 1 of 9

Which actor, known for playing the Cowardly Lion, was the first celebrity pitchman for Lay’s potato chips?

Chips Versus the Cart

Over the seven years from August 2019 to August 2026, the BLS average potato chip price rose about 54%, against about 31% for the overall Consumer Price Index.

Grocery prices overall rose about 33% over the same seven years.

That puts chips roughly 21 percentage points ahead of the average grocery bill.

On these numbers, chips rose faster than the cart.

If chips are a regular part of your cart, their average price has risen faster than the average grocery item's.

A 10-Ounce Bag at the National Average

A 10-ounce bag of potato chips priced at the national average would have cost about $2.74 in August 2019.

At the September 2025 peak it would have been about $4.36, and in August 2026 about $4.22, which is $1.48 more than in 2019.

If you're buying a bag, brand and store will move your price, so treat these as a yardstick, not a shelf price.

Snack-Maker Country

NPR describes Hanover, Pennsylvania, as a snack-food center, home to both pretzel and potato chip makers.

Utz says its founders began making them in Hanover in 1921, and calls Hanover the snack capital of the world.

Herr's dates its start to 1946, when 21-year-old James Herr bought a small potato chip company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The roots run deep.

The August 2026 price is a national average, so a bag on your shelf can cost more or less than $6.751 for 16 ounces.

What the Average Misses

The BLS potato chip price covers all potato chips, regardless of style, flavor, packaging type or size, so it can't tell you what your favorite brand costs.

Averages hide a lot.

The figures aren't seasonally adjusted, so the headline 54% compares the same month, August, at both ends.

As of November 2026, the most recent month posted was October 2026, at $6.638.