Publix Lost Its First-Place Ranking in a 2026 Grocery Satisfaction Survey. Can You Guess What Took Its Spot?
Your weekly Publix run can feel like the safe choice. Publix was born in Florida, and your grandparents probably shopped there.
But a customer survey this year put another chain ahead of Publix.
Here’s how Publix lost its first-place ranking in a 2026 grocery satisfaction ranking, and what the numbers say about that gap.
The Survey Behind the Ranking
Publix’s second-place score comes from a survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a national group founded in 1994 at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
ACSI emailed customers chosen at random between January 2025 and December 2025.
In all, the group gathered 31,293 completed surveys for its Retail and Consumer Shipping Study 2026, which includes supermarkets.
ACSI’s scale runs 0 to 100.
ACSI published the results on January 27, 2026.
The supermarket table names 19 companies, including Walmart, Target and warehouse clubs such as Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club.
The table’s industry average is weighted by companies’ market shares.
ACSI labels the scores 2026 results, but the ranking you’re reading reflects what customers said during 2025.
Passed by Trader Joe’s
Publix held steady at 84 in ACSI’s 2026 supermarket scores, the same number you’d have seen a year earlier.
Trader Joe’s rose 2% to 86 and overtook Publix to lead the industry.
Trader Joe’s was one of only three companies in the table to improve.
Trader Joe’s 86 was the highest score in the table, and no other company topped 84.
Publix’s 84 is still the second-highest score in the table.
Publix lost its place at the top without losing a point.
How ACSI Builds a Score
Publix’s 84 is an ACSI score, which the group calculates as a weighted average of three survey questions.
Those questions measure different facets of satisfaction with a product or service.
ACSI’s model treats customer expectations, perceived quality and perceived value as drivers of satisfaction, and customer complaints and customer loyalty as outcomes.
From Shared Lead to Second
Publix rose 4% to a three-way tie atop the industry at 85 in ACSI’s 2024 study, alongside Costco and H-E-B.
That tie ended Trader Joe’s multiyear winning streak.
The study said Publix “sets the standard across much of the in-store experience,” including staff courtesy and store cleanliness and layout.
Trader Joe’s was next that year, at 84.
By the 2025 results, Publix had slipped a point to 84 and was tied with Trader Joe’s for the lead.
Both leaders benefited from customers’ perceptions of the strength of their promotions.
Most chains saw little or no movement that year.
Over the three studies, Publix’s score went 85, 84, 84, while Trader Joe’s went 84, 84, 86.
That makes 2026 the first of the three results where Publix doesn’t share the lead.
Trader Joe’s was one of five of the table’s 19 named companies to move two points or more, up or down.
The Chains Behind Publix
Behind Publix in the table, H-E-B rose a point to 83, which trimmed Publix’s lead over it from two points to one.
H-E-B’s path since 2024 runs 85, 82, 83, so it has recovered part of what it lost and sits closer to Publix than it did a year ago.
Sam’s Club slid a point to 82, so Publix’s lead over it grew from one point to two.
Costco, Aldi and Whole Foods each sat at 81, three points behind Publix.
Psst! How well do you know ACSI’s supermarket scores? Tap each card and see how many you can get right.
Reasons Behind the Rise
ACSI’s release credits Trader Joe’s with maintaining its hallmark customer experience even as the chain keeps expanding nationally.
That’s especially noteworthy, since expansion can often strain operations and jeopardize consistency.
Trader Joe’s 2% rise was the second-largest percentage gain in the table, and the only gain that carried a chain past Publix.
H-E-B’s one-point rise is tied to strategic pricing, quality and assortment investments, yet it still left the chain a point behind Publix.
Publix in the South
Publix’s score in the South is 83, a point below its national 84.
Sam’s Club leads the South at 84, so Publix lost a regional share of the lead too.
Aldi and H-E-B are tied with Publix at 83 there.
A year earlier, H-E-B and Publix were sharing that lead.
Most regional winners that year scored higher in their regions than nationally, which ACSI said may indicate a home-field advantage.
Trader Joe’s fits that pattern in the West, where its regional score of 87 is a point above its national 86.
Psst! How much do you know about Publix policies? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Publix Know-How
Answer these questions on Publix policies and shopper habits. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
If a Publix register scans an item above its shelf or advertised price, how many of that item does the Publix Promise give you free?
Losses Around Publix
Seven of the table's 19 named companies held still in 2026, Publix among them, while nine lost ground. Supermarkets overall slipped 1% to 78, which left Publix's 84 six points above the industry score.
Only Trader Joe's, H-E-B and Save A Lot gained.
Even Save A Lot's 4% jump left its 78 six points below Publix.
Six more lost a single point each, among them Sam's Club and Whole Foods.
Wegmans fell furthest, from 83 to 78, and ACSI's report links the drop to new stores that may have affected consistency.
Hy-Vee and Albertsons Companies each fell 3% and finished below the industry average.
Since the 2024 three-way tie at 85, Publix has lost one point, H-E-B two and Costco four.
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