Pennsylvania had the highest hike in grocery prices over the last year, new report finds

Angel Albring, York Daily Record
·1 min read

The state of Pennsylvania had the highest increase in grocery prices over the last year, according to a report from Consumer Affairs.

Overall, grocery prices in the U.S. have gone up 5.3% year-over-year, but grocery inflation has varied from state to state.

Consumer Affairs, a customer review and consumer news platform, partnered with market intelligence provider Datasembly and looked at grocery price data in 15 categories, covering 150,000 stores in all 50 states and in Washington D.C.

A woman shops for canned goods as a discount grocery in York.
A woman shops for canned goods as a discount grocery in York.

According to the data, the commonwealth has experienced the biggest hike in grocery prices, seeing an 8.2% increase in 2023 alone. Vermont (7%), Maryland (7%), West Virginia (6.9%) and New Jersey (6.8%) round out the top five.

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Colorado had the lowest price hike (2.9%) followed by Arizona (3.3%), North Carolina (3.5%), Michigan (3.5%) and Virginia (3.6%).

The report also showed that shoppers in rural areas are paying more than those in urban areas, with the biggest rise in prices being seen in ZIP codes where the average income is $35,000-$50,000. Rural areas saw an average 7.6% increase, and urban areas saw an average 5.6% increase.

Consumer Affairs attributes this to a lack of competition in rural areas.

When looking at grocery categories, baby formula saw the biggest jump, at a 17.5% rise. Behind that was candy/gum (9.7%), pet food (8.5%), cookies/crackers (6.6%) and beverages (6.5%).

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Pa. saw the highest increase in grocery prices this year