Families celebrating the Fourth of July holiday continue to find high prices at the grocery store, based on the 2025 American Farm Bureau Federation annual market basket survey. An Independence Day cookout will cost $70.92 for 10 guests this year.
This is down only 30 cents from last year’s record-high cost. At $7.09 per person, 2025 will be the second-highest cost since Farm Bureau began the survey in 2013. The cookout favorites include cheeseburgers, chicken breasts, pork chops, homemade potato salad, strawberries and ice cream, among other products.
While the cost held near historic highs, Michigan Farm Bureau Lead Economist Loren Koeman emphasized that Americans still have one of the most affordable food supplies in the world, spending a smaller percentage of their income on food than any other country. He also noted that high food prices don’t mean more money for farmers.
“Just like consumers, farmers are price takers — not price makers,” Koeman said. “Farmers receive just 15.9 cents from every dollar spent at the grocery store, but the costs associated with running their farms have only increased, contributing to the loss of more than 160,000 American farms in the last seven years.”
The market basket survey shows an increase in the cost of beef, potato salad and canned pork and beans, while there are drops in the cost of pork chops, chips and hamburger buns.
The retail price for 2 pounds of ground beef increased 4.4% to $13.33, while pork and beans will cost $2.69, up 20 cents from 2024 as steel and aluminum tariffs have increased prices on canned goods. Potato salad is also up 6.6% to $3.54, due mostly to the cost of eggs.
The survey found a reduction in cost for six cookout staples, including a 3-pound package of pork chops, which is down 8.8% from last year, at $14.13.
Chips average $4.80 a bag, a dime less than 2024. Hamburger buns are 2.6% less expensive, at $2.35. The amount of pork available to stores is up, which is pushing prices down. The demand for potatoes has eased, helping bring down the cost of chips. Wheat prices are still much lower than record highs of three years ago, contributing to the slight decrease in the cost of buns.
