You may not believe it till you see it, but according to a recent USDA report, retail prices of eggs have actually begun to ease. More than perhaps any other product, eggs have become a symbol of inflation the past few months. Prices soared 60% in 2022, reaching $4.25 for a dozen eggs in December.
Of course, egg prices in the grocery store are often higher than that average national price, with the cost largely dependent on where you live. A dozen eggs went for over $6 in Arizona, California, Nevada, Alabama, and Florida, and nearly $10 in Hawaii, according to an Axios analysis. (Also see, states where inflation is causing the most stress.)
It was only a year ago that egg prices were $1.79 a dozen, so how did prices get so high? The egg industry has blamed increased costs of fuel, feed, and packaging, as well as supply issues and a global bird flu outbreak that necessitated the killing of 58 million chickens, resulting in a national egg shortage. If farmers cannot get the avian flu under control, some experts warn things could get worse.
While these sky-high prices might feel unprecedented to some, there have been times in just the last 50 years when eggs were even more expensive. 24/7 Wall St. adjusted the average price of a dozen large grade A eggs in U.S. cities as of December of every year from 1973 to 2022 based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We found that in the past 50 years, the inflation-adjusted price of eggs in 2021 and 2022 ranks fifth and fourth highest, respectively. The highest price was in 1975, when it reached $4.79.
The second and third highest prices were also in the 1970s, during the period of The Great Inflation, which lasted from 1965 to 1982. Several factors contributed to The Great Inflation, including two severe energy shortages and Federal Reserve policies that provided cheap money. (Not surprising, the price of this household item is soaring.)
Inflation-adjusted egg prices were generally lower from 1988 to 1995. Those years were generally marked by stable inflation, but also sluggish economic, employment, and wage growth ahead of the growth later in the mid to late ‘90s.
Click here to see the price of eggs in the past 50 years.
Click here to read our detailed methodology.
Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
1973
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.66
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $4.34 – 3rd highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Pictorial Parade / Getty Images
1974
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.65
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.89 – 11th highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Archive Photos / Getty Images
1975
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.88
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $4.79 – the highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Keystone / Getty Images
1976
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.86
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $4.42 – 2nd highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
1977
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.79
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.80 – 16th highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Space Frontiers / Getty Images
1978
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.91
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $4.07 – 7th highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Tony Duffy / Getty Images
1979
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.84
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.39 – 25th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: FPG / Getty Images
1980
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.03
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.90 – 9th lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Gene Forte / Getty Images
1981
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.97
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.98 – 11th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Hulton Archive / Getty Images
1982
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.81
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.44 – 24th highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Tony Duffy / Getty Images
1983
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.13
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.26 – 17th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
1984
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.87
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.06 – 14th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Space Frontiers / Getty Images
1985
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.91
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.06 – 13th lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Getty Images / Staff
1986
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.91
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.21 – 16th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Rick Stewart / Getty Images
1987
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.73
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.28 – 19th lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Getty Images / Staff
1988
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.83
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.77 – 6th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Pascal Rondeau / Getty Images
1989
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.14
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.51 – 3rd lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Space Frontiers / Getty Images
1990
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.00
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.82 – 7th lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1991
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.01
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.86 – 8th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1992
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.93
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.42 – the lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1993
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.87
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.49 – 2nd lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Phil Cole / Getty Images
1994
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.87
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.59 – 5th lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1995
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.16
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.56 – 4th lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
1996
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.31
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.08 – 15th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Doug Pensinger / Getty Images
1997
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.17
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.32 – 21st lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Space Frontiers / Getty Images
1998
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.09
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.03 – 12th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: USAF / Getty Images
1999
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.92
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $2.95 – 10th lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: NASA / Getty Images
2000
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.96
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.35 – 22nd lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Mark Wilson / Getty Images
2001
> Price of a dozen eggs: $0.93
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.38 – 24th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Mark Wilson / Getty Images
2002
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.18
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.36 – 23rd lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Scott Barbour / Getty Images
2003
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.56
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.47 – 21st highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Chris Jackson / Getty Images
2004
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.20
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.64 – 19th highest in the past 50 yrs
2005
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.35
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.49 – 20th highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Wathiq Khuzaie / Getty Images
2006
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.54
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.43 – 25th highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: David Paul Morris / Getty Images
2007
> Price of a dozen eggs: $2.10
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.46 – 22nd highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Spencer Platt / Getty Images
2008
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.83
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.31 – 20th lowest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Alex Wong / Getty Images
2009
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.77
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.27 – 18th lowest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Chris Graythen / Getty Images
2010
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.79
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.46 – 23rd highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Majid Saeedi / Getty Images
2011
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.87
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.80 – 17th highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
2012
> Price of a dozen eggs: $2.01
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.79 – 18th highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Michael Buckner / Getty Images
2013
> Price of a dozen eggs: $2.03
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.96 – 9th highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Sean Gallup / Getty Images
2014
> Price of a dozen eggs: $2.21
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $4.11 – 6th highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: NASA / Getty Images
2015
> Price of a dozen eggs: $2.75
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.85 – 12th highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Scott Olson / Getty Images
2016
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.38
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.82 – 15th highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: NASA / Getty Images
2017
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.82
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $4.00 – 8th highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
2018
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.60
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.84 – 14th highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: Anthony Kwan / Getty Images
2019
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.53
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.84 – 13th highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: flyparade / Getty Images
2020
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.48
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $3.90 – 10th highest in the past 50 yrs
Source: Alex Wong / Getty Images
2021
> Price of a dozen eggs: $1.79
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $4.21 – 5th highest in the past 50 yrs
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Source: romrodinka / Getty Images
2022
> Price of a dozen eggs: $4.25
> Inflation-adjusted price of 12 eggs: $4.25 – 4th highest in the past 50 yrs
Methodology
To determine the cost of eggs every year in the past 50 years, 24/7 Wall St. adjusted the average price of a dozen large grade A eggs in U.S. cities in December of every year from 1973 to 2022 based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Egg prices were adjusted using the consumer price index for eggs. Historical prices of eggs were adjusted for overall inflation using the annual consumer price index for all items. The current price of a dozen eggs in 2022 is based on monthly data for December 2022.
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