--- title: Eggflation! Why a Dozen Eggs Now Costs You More Than a Gallon of Gas description: Wholesale egg prices have skyrocketed thanks to an ongoing avian flu outbreak and increased demand, at the same time gas prices fell. authors: - name: Mary Ellen Cagnassola role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/ bio: Mary Ellen (M.E.) Cagnassola is a former reporter at Money, where she covered Social Security, retirement, housing, and employment. Her work reflects her commitment to service and equity in consumer finance. education: Rutgers University, BA Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 205 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-01-11T16:57:50.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T17:47:21.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - groceries - News word_count: 450 canonical: https://money.com/egg-prices-higher-than-gas-costs/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo collage of a cool chicken with sunglasses proud of her extremely expensive eggs for sale](https://img.money.com/2023/01/News-dozen-eggs-now-cost-more-than-gas.jpg?crop=0px%2C217px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) You may want to skip that omelette for breakfast and switch to cereal: The average cost of a dozen eggs is now more expensive than a gallon of gas. Like most grocery items, egg prices skyrocketed in 2022, according to Consumer Price Index (CPI) [data](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf). The wholesale cost of a dozen eggs is about $3.30 now in the U.S. and more than $7 in some states. American drivers are currently paying an average of $3.27 per gallon, down from a [high over $5](https://money.com/gas-prices-plunge-soon/) last summer. Bear in mind that the egg prices quoted are at the wholesale level. The actual prices paid by customers in grocery stores are typically higher, as rising wholesale costs get passed down to the consumer. CPI data shows that the average retail cost in [U.S. cities](https://data.bls.gov/PDQWeb/ap) for a dozen eggs increased by more than double, from $1.72 in November 2021 to $3.59 in November 2022. Poultry and eggs posted some of the highest cost increases in 2022, with wholesale [turkeys](https://money.com/turkeys-cost-more-thanksgiving/) reaching $1.70 a pound ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, $0.40 higher than the previous year. Increased consumer demand and a pervasive avian flu epidemic impacting the poultry industry are to blame, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. More than 57 million birds in 47 states have been infected with the virus as of Jan. 6, rendering them and their eggs unfit for human consumption. USDA [data](https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Colorado/Publications/News_Releases/2022/CO-Chicken-and-Eggs-12202022.pdf) shows that egg production dropped from 9.7 billion in December 2021 to 8.9 billion in November 2022. States with the worst outbreaks are seeing some of the priciest consequences of the epidemic. In California, where over 750,000 birds have been destroyed due to the infection in the past year, a dozen eggs now runs shoppers $7.37 wholesale, according to [USDA data](https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Egg%20Markets%20Overview.pdf). Low supply isn’t the only factor yoked to increased egg costs: Americans have cut down on purchasing red meat in recent years in favor of healthier proteins like eggs and poultry, the [USDA says](https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/poultry-eggs/sector-at-a-glance/). While the likelihood of humans contracting avian flu from poultry or wild birds remains low, the financial toll of the outbreak on the industry is expected to continue hitting grocery store shelves. The last comparable avian flu outbreak occurred in [2015](https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=86281#:~:text=December%202017-,Impacts%20of%20the%202014%2D2015%20Highly%20Pathogenic%20Avian%20Influenza,on%20the%20U.S.%20Poultry%20Sector&text=Between%20December%202014%20and%20June,the%20spread%20of%20the%20disease), when 50 million chickens and turkeys were culled. The USDA estimates the epidemic cost the industry about $3.3 billion. \[*CORRECTION:* In a previous version of this story, we misstated the cost of a dozen eggs in November 2022 as $5.59 when it actually was $3.59.\] [Here’s What Investing Experts Are Watching in 2023, From Inflation to China’s Economic Reopening](https://money.com/stock-market-factors-investors-watching-2023/) [6 Best Personal Loans of January 2023](https://money.com/best-personal-loans/) [How Low Could Inflation Go in 2023? Here Are 4 Expert Predictions](https://money.com/inflation-2023-expert-predictions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/egg-prices-higher-than-gas-costs/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Food Industry", "item": "https://money.com/food-industry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Eggflation! 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