How did State College grocery prices change in 2025? We tracked items for you
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- See how grocery prices compare between Wegmans, Giant, Aldi, Walmart and more.
- We tracked price data throughout 2025 to see which items became cheaper or more expensive.
- Explore data visualizations to see where you can find each item at the cheapest price.
With food prices largely on the rise, shoppers throughout central Pennsylvania may need to work harder to find savings at the supermarket.
The all-items Consumer Price Index increased by 0.3% from July to August and was expected to rise again in September, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, which did not release inflation estimates for October through December due to the 43-day government shutdown that began Oct. 1. The agency expected food prices to continue rising faster than overall inflation but has not released new data in months.
So, how have grocery prices changed in State College throughout 2025? To find out, we shopped for staple products at the area’s major grocery stores to track the prices of common items, see which store offers the best deals and compare prices to our last price check analysis from early 2025.
How did we track our grocery price comparisons?
Before diving into the data, please keep the following points in mind regarding our methodology.
Where did we shop? — We visited State College locations of the area’s biggest grocery store chains: Aldi, Giant, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans and Weis. We also shopped for groceries at Target and Walmart.
Which stores were excluded? — Stores with membership requirements, including Sam’s Club, were left out alongside specialty and international markets, which may have lacked comparable items to other stores in our analysis.
When did we shop? — We recorded prices at these stores in a spreadsheet during individual visits between Dec. 18 and 22.
What did we shop for? — We picked roughly 30 items sold at almost all of these stores, ranging from fresh meat and produce to store-brand pantry staples and baking needs. Some name-brand items were included, too.
What items did we leave off of our list? — This exercise is effective only when using common items between stores. So, some variables like deli items, baked goods, flowers and pharmaceuticals were excluded. Others, including baby needs, were previously featured in other price check stories published by the Centre Daily Times.
Were sale prices a factor? — No. Some stores, including Giant and Weis, offer large catalogs of weekly sales and specials, but it would be unfair to compare them to stores without discounts. As such, savvy shoppers can likely find even more significant savings at some stores if they use sales to their advantage.
Looking at the data on grocery prices
Check out this Datawrapper visualization to flip through each item included in our comparison project. Prices are displayed for the stores that sell each item. For example, every store we shopped at carries store-brand dry spaghetti, but not all offer Dawn dish detergent or Hillshire Farm deli meats.
Aldi
Store shopped: 1798 N Atherton St. in State College on Dec. 22
The newest major grocery store in State College, Aldi offers low-cost items using almost exclusively house brands. The company operates another Centre County store at 780 Benner Pike.
Aldi wound up offering the best price on more items than any other store in our analysis. Those items include store-brand bacon ($4.45 per pound), dry spaghetti ($0.89 per box), eggs ($1.96 per dozen), old-fashioned oats ($1.76 per 18-ounce box) and white sugar ($2.89 per four-pound bag). Aldi led in several produce items, including avocados ($0.55 each), tomatoes on the vine ($1.93 per pound) and potatoes ($3.39 per five-pound bag).
Aldi saw prices on some produce rise since late February, including its organic bananas (up 52.1%) and tomatoes on the vine (up 16.3%). Other items, including eggs (down 67.2%) and old-fashioned oats (down 26.7%), observed big drops since that time.
Giant Food Stores
Store shopped: 255 Northland Center in State College on Dec. 18
We visited Giant’s North Atherton Street store during our most recent price check survey. The company also operates stores on South Atherton Street in State College and along Benner Pike in Bellefonte.
Our analysis found Giant offered the best price in the area on a gallon of fat-free milk ($4.71), tying with Walmart and Wegmans. However, this store provides the most expensive six-pack of 16.9-ounce Coca-Cola bottles ($7.49 each) and roughly 28-ounce bottles of Dawn dish detergent.
Giant saw its prices for bananas (up 20.4%), Bush’s baked beans (up 25.1%) and ground coffee (up 20.7%) rise significantly since late February, according to our survey, while eggs (down 67.6%) saw their price plummet after costs surged across the country earlier this year.
Target
Store shopped: 315 Colonnade Blvd. in State College on Dec. 19
This Target store does not sell fresh produce or meat, but it still offers a wide range of grocery staples. Our most recent price check survey found it offered the area’s best price on six-packs of 16.9-ounce Coca-Cola bottles for $5.49 each.
State College’s Target observed significant price hikes on its ground coffee (up 37%), old-fashioned oats (up 40.9%) and fat-free milk (up 9.1%) since late February. Prices fell significantly for some other items, including eggs (down 45.1%), butter (down 7.5%) and white sugar (down 5.9%).
Trader Joe’s
Store shopped: 243 Patriot Lane in State College on Dec. 22
This store, which remains the only Trader Joe’s in Centre County, is known for selling products under its own label. Much of the store’s inventory is organic or locally sourced.
During our survey, we found Trader Joe’s offered highly competitive prices on many items but did not post any leading prices compared to other stores in the area. Notably, it was excluded in our comparison for some items, including some produce, because the store does not sell them by weight.
Since late February, Trader Joe’s saw its prices for avocados (down 35.2%) and eggs (down 14.3%) drop significantly, while other items remained level. We found its prices for tomatoes on the vine (up 16.7%), store-brand peanut butter (up 10%) and fat-free milk (up 4.3%) rose over the past 10 months.
Walmart
Store shopped: 1665 N. Atherton St. in State College on Dec. 19
Walmart’s State College Supercenter offers a large grocery section stocked with name brands and products under its Great Value label, often at a lower cost.
Walmart continued its affordable trend by offering the area’s best prices on several items, including Bush’s Best baked beans ($2.14 per 16-ounce can), ground coffee ($5.88 per 11-ounce can) and Oikos Greek yogurt ($1.38 per 5.3-ounce cup).
Walmart’s prices for russet potatoes (up 20%), tomatoes on the vine (up nearly 93%) and ground coffee (up 32.4%) spiked over the past year, according to our analysis. Other products, including avocados (down 17.7%), Campbell’s chicken noodle soup (down 27.3%) and eggs (down 67%) became cheaper since late February.
Wegmans
Store shopped: 345 Colonnade Blvd. in State College on Dec. 18
The only Wegmans in Centre County offered the best prices on bananas ($0.49 per pound), boneless chicken breasts ($2.29 per pound), store-brand white bread ($1.39 per loaf) and Cheerios cereal ($4.29 per 12-ounce box), among other items.
Since our last price check 10 months ago, Wegmans observed sharp price drops for some items, including its avocados (down 44.7%), store-brand bacon (down 16.7%) and eggs (down 57%). Some items, including ground coffee (up 30%) and old-fashioned oats (up 22.8%), saw their prices increase, while many others remained flat since February.
Weis
Store shopped: 1471 Martin St. in State College on Dec. 22
This Pennsylvania-headquartered grocery chain operates several other stores in Centre County, including markets in Bellefonte and Philipsburg. We surveyed its store along North Atherton Street in State College.
During our visit, we found this Weis offered the area’s best price on store-brand loaves of white bread at $1.39 each, tied with Wegmans and Aldi. Some items, including ground coffee ($6.99 per 11-ounce tin), were more expensive than any other store in the area.
Weis’ prices on bananas (up 20.4%), ground coffee (up 40%) and Tostito’s bite-size tortilla chips (up 17.8%) rose significantly since February, our analysis found. Some other items saw their prices drop, including store-brand Italian salad dressing (down 12.7%), russet potatoes (down 20%) and eggs (down 38%).
So, which store has State College’s cheapest prices?
Once again, Aldi and Walmart produced strong showings in our price analysis.
Aldi wound up leading or tying the six other chains by offering the lowest surveyed prices for 17 items, including store-brand bacon, white and wheat bread, eggs and salad dressing. Walmart, meanwhile, led or tied the area’s stores by offering the lowest price on 12 items, including store-brand products like Bush’s Best baked beans, Heinz ketchup and Oscar Mayer hot dogs.
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