Pete the Planner: Why do high egg prices leave consumers feeling so steamed?

A few months ago, the Trump administration made a promise: food prices would go down. It was the kind of pledge that’s easy to remember and easy to support. After all, who doesn’t want groceries to be more affordable? But here we are today, and egg prices—along with plenty of other everyday essentials—are still climbing.

To be fair, this isn’t a uniquely Trump-era issue. Inflation, supply chain struggles, and global food production challenges have made price swings unpredictable for years. But when a promise is made, people expect results. And when those results don’t show up as expected, it leaves us all in a bit of a holding pattern, wondering, “Is relief coming, or are we just stuck with higher prices for good?”

Let’s break it down. The average American eats about 23 eggs per month, which means a family of four goes through 92 eggs monthly—roughly 7.67 dozen.

Before prices started rising, a dozen eggs cost around $2.50, meaning that family was spending $19.17 per month on eggs. Now, with prices closer to $4.00 per dozen, that number jumps to $30.67.

That’s an extra $11.50 per month just for eggs. I spend more than that monthly on shampoo and conditioner, and I’ve been bald since 2018.  And if prices hit $5.50 per dozen, which isn’t out of the question, that total rises to $42.17 per month, making the increase $23 per month.

Now, $11 to $23 per month isn’t nothing, but it’s also not enough to derail a family’s entire budget. The problem is that eggs aren’t the only thing getting more expensive. When you stack this cost on top of rising prices for milk, bread, and meat, you start to feel it.

Egg prices have always had ups and downs. A bad bird flu outbreak can shrink the supply. Feed costs go up. Labor shortages hit. Grocery prices, in general, tend to follow patterns of inflation, supply, and demand. But after a few years of sticker shock, people were told things would start trending downward—and, for the most part, that hasn’t happened.

This is where the frustration sets in. It’s not just about whether eggs cost $2.50 or $4.00. It’s about the bigger question: Are we actually seeing progress, or are we in a new normal where everything just costs more than it used to?

And that’s what’s unclear. Maybe prices will level out. Maybe food costs will ease over time. Or maybe this is just how things are going to be from now on.

While no one can personally control egg prices, there are ways to manage grocery spending when costs are up:

— Buy in bulk when prices dip. Eggs stay fresh for weeks and can even be frozen, so when prices drop, it’s worth stocking up.

— Look for protein alternatives. Cottage cheese, peanut butter, beans, and lentils can stretch a grocery budget further.

— Shop around. Some stores consistently have better egg prices than others, and a little extra comparison shopping can add up.

Egg prices aren’t the biggest economic issue of our time, but they’re one of those little things that add up and make people wonder: Are things moving in the right direction?

Right now, the answer is unclear. Maybe food prices will finally ease, and families will get some relief. Maybe they won’t.

For now, we wait and see.•