It has been more than 100 days since President Donald Trump took office. He vowed to lower food prices on the first day during the campaign, and while egg prices are finally falling, the costs of other consumer goods remain high.
At currently at $6 per pound, the average price for ground beef has hit a record high for the third consecutive month, jumping 15 cents since March. Electricity costs also peaked in April, according to the latest data from the Consumer Price Index.
Some good news? Egg prices have fallen from an all-time high. The average egg cost was settled at $5.12 in April, down about 18% since March.
Still, the costs of many products and services remain the same as changes in management. Prices for milk, bread and chicken have hardly moved since December.
Many of these prices aren’t directly related to the White House, but they could soon be. The fast-growing world trade war definitely affects the average price from grocery stores to pumps.
The Tribune tracks the daily costs of Americans, including eggs, milk, bread, bananas, oranges, tomatoes, chicken, beef, gasoline, electricity, and natural gas. This tracker is updated monthly using CPI data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
To see the average US price for a particular profit, click the drop-down arrow below and select the items you want to view.
egg
Breakfast lovers will delight! Egg prices have fallen for the first time in months.
In April, the average cost of a dozen large Grade A eggs was $5.12 nationwide. It’s down more than $1 from the previous month. This is probably the first time egg prices have fallen since October, as commercial and backyard flocks have seen a decline in avian flu cases.
In February there were around 12.6 million birds affected by the highly pathogenic avian influenza in the United States, according to the US Department of Agriculture. That number was 2.1 million in March, and as of April, only 1 million American birds had been affected. These cases were mainly concentrated in two commercial herds, South Dakota and Ohio.
Still, egg costs remain about 24% higher than before Trump took office. However, as the number of reported avian flu cases is declining, experts expect egg prices to continue to fall in the summer months.
milk
Poultry flocks and wild birds are not the only ones affected by the avian flu. The virus has been reported in dairy cows since March 2024, with 48 new confirmed cases last month at dairy farms in California, Arizona and Idaho.
However, while cases of avian flu are declining in poultry, they are increasing in cattle. In April, the number of newly infected cows was twice as many as March, representing the largest number of cases reported in a month since the start of the new calendar year.
So, while far from the unstable spikes found at egg prices, it may not be surprising that the cost of milk is increasing. The average cost is just 4 cents apart from January.
As of April, a fresh, fortified whole milk gallons would pull back around $4.07.
bread
According to the national average, white bread was around $1.91 per pound in April. The price of bread is about 4.3% less than 12 months ago.
banana
One of the items that has not changed much in recent years is bananas. Fruit prices remained low for sure, hovering at $0.64 per pound as of April.
orange
Orange prices are expected to rise steadily in the coming months. But that’s because it’s normal.
Like many citrus fruits, orange prices are heavily linked to the harvest season. At the end of the orange season, consumables will decline, coinciding with increasing demand, and prices will rise. This is the standard for the fruit market, with oranges being the cheapest in the winter months, then costs increase throughout spring and summer, eventually peaking every year in September or October.
Currently, the average cost per pound of navel orange is $1.49 nationwide.
tomato
In the US, as of April, the average price of outdoor-grown tomatoes was $1.79 per pound. That cost has fallen by around 13%, slightly lower than the previous month since Trump came to power.
However, this change probably has little to do with the administration. Like oranges, tomato prices vary depending on the time of year, when they rise in autumn, peak in early winter, and plummet in spring.
chicken
The national average, which last year, exceeds $2 per pound for the entire fresh chicken for the first time, hit a record high of $2.08 in November. Since then, the average cost has been roughly the same. According to the latest CPI figures, chicken is $2.06 per pound.
Ground beef
The next backyard cookout can be even more expensive as the cost of ground beef increases.
Prices surged again between March and April, bringing it to an all-time high of nearly 2.5%, according to BLS data. The average price for a 100% beef grand chuck is currently at $6.00 per pound. Last month, it was 15 cents more than the previous record set.
This can be caused by a number of factors. In addition to some major ground beef recalls reported in recent months, U.S. cattle stocks are the lowest in 25 years, with some severe droughts in the country further reducing feed supply, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Recently, in trade talks with the US, the UK agreed to buy more American beef. But this may not be the last time we’ll see record prices this year, as China and the European Union tariffs remain on beef and other US farm exports.
Perhaps this is the year to try vegetarianism?
electricity
In April, national electricity prices were 18 cents per kilowatt-hour. That average has remained roughly the same since May last year, with typical changes over a few months registered in less than a few minutes.
Still, current electricity costs are the highest on record, dating back over 45 years.
gasoline
Pump prices are climbing again.
Gas costs were $3.33 per gallon for more than a month, up about 6% from the last month of the Biden administration.
Nevertheless, prices remain about 12% lower than in April 2024, and significantly lower than the number of jaw drops that many Americans saw three summers ago.
Meanwhile, Chicago’s prices are about 12 cents higher than the national average, sitting at $3.45 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.
Natural gas
Piped utility gas, or natural gas, is another cost that creeps up.
The national average price is $1.63 per heat, the highest in two years.
Original release: May 16, 2025, 1:38pm
