It seems like the cost of living and the affordability of life has risen significantly in recent years, but some comparison shopping reveals a little bit of a different story.
The average Georgia household spends approximately $278.32 per week on food at home, totaling approximately 18% of their total income. With inflation at around 2.5%, this presents a problem for Georgians trying to watch their spending and stay on budget.
In the ongoing Price Check series, the Ledger shopped area stores last year and this year to compare prices to each other, but evaluate the change in basic essentials that most homes buy regularly. The changes may surprise you.
The experiment
We shopped a few local stores around town to see the prices of both name-brand and store-brand products. This is not science, but we tried to be meticulous about one-to-one comparisons and shopping for the same things, but of course, there are many variables.
What we bought:
Households differ across the state, but we tried to find the most purchased staples to get as clear a picture as possible.
- Eggs
- Bread
- Butter
- Milk
- Cheese (8 oz cheddar)
- Bananas
Where we shopped:
In 2025, we also shopped Winn-Dixie, but they are no longer open in the Columbus area.
- Publix
- Aldi
- Piggly Wiggly
- Walmart
The results:
Grocery prices dropped at every store compared to last year, driven largely by falling egg costs after 2025’s bird flu-fueled price spike. Shoppers still felt the pinch on butter and milk with prices significantly up from last year on a few products…