--- title: Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte Now Costs 99% More Than It Did at Launch description: Since 2005, Money estimates, the cost of Starbucks' iconic pumpkin spice latte has risen approximately 99%, far outpacing inflation. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 498 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2026-08-25T15:54:19.000Z' modified: '2026-08-25T21:22:33.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - News word_count: 404 canonical: https://money.com/pumpkin-spice-latte-cost-increase/ 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 of a Starbucks employee preparing a drink](https://img.money.com/2024/08/News-Pumpkin-Spice-Latte-Cost-Lot-More.jpg?crop=0px%2C28px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) With baristas already slinging pumpkin spice lattes as of Tuesday, Starbucks has ushered in the unofficial start of autumn a month early. A hot, 16-ounce — that's "grande" in Starbucks lingo — pumpkin spice latte typically costs $6.66 in 2026, according to average menu prices across several U.S. cities. That's a 16-cent increase from $6.50 last year. Since the drink's inception more than two decades ago the cost has nearly doubled, up 99% since 2005 (the first year for which Money found prices). Starbucks' pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove-infused latte has rocketed in popularity, spurring copycats, candles and offshoots like pumpkin cream cold brew and pumpkin-flavored chai. The drink has also sparked a lot of backlash, becoming a lightning rod of public disdain over seasonal creep, overconsumption and capitalism in general. “I will be subject to its tyranny no longer,” *Last Week Tonight* host John Oliver proclaimed in [a 2014 tirade against the flavor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeQqe0oj5Ls). “It stops here.” Except it didn’t. Twelve years later, the pumpkin spice latte lives on. Actually, it's thriving. The PSL, as fans refer to the drink, remains Starbucks’ most popular seasonal beverage, according to the coffee chain. And Starbucks relies on it to get people in the door: Visits to the store [spiked 27%](https://www.placer.ai/anchor/articles/has-starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte-retained-its-appeal-in-2025) the day PSL launched last year, according to the business-intelligence firm Placer.ai. And foot traffic tends to stay [elevated throughout the week](https://www.placer.ai/anchor/articles/pumpkin-spice-works-its-magic-once-again). More broadly, Starbucks has begun to rely on major seasonal menu launches, saying that about 10% of annual sales come from seasonal items. But will price-conscious Americans be willing to shell out over $6 for the (in)famous latte again this year? ## Pumpkin spice latte prices over the years Money charted the cost of the PSL over the past two decades, finding that as the drink’s popularity exploded, so did its price. While the pumpkin spice latte was created in 2003, it wasn’t released nationally until the following year. Money’s earliest price estimate begins in 2005, when a hot, grande PSL cost $3.35. Since 2005, Money estimates, the cost of that same autumn latte has risen approximately 99%, far outpacing inflation. By contrast, overall prices have increased 68% from September 2005 to today. Over that same period, roasted coffee prices grew 84%. Here’s a closer look at prices for hot, grande-sized PSLs. ![](https://img.money.com/2026/08/Money-Chart-PSL-Prices.png) Price estimates are based on two dozen sources, from archived news stories to customer receipts, reviews and Starbucks menu prices across various cities. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/pumpkin-spice-latte-cost-increase/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Restaurants", "item": "https://money.com/restaurants/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte Now Costs 99% More Than It Did at Launch" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/pumpkin-spice-latte-cost-increase/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/pumpkin-spice-latte-cost-increase/", "name": "Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte Now Costs 99% More Than It Did at Launch", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-08-25T15:54:19.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/pumpkin-spice-latte-cost-increase/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/pumpkin-spice-latte-cost-increase/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-08-25T21:22:33.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte Now Costs 99% More Than It Did at Launch", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/08/News-Pumpkin-Spice-Latte-Cost-Lot-More.jpg?crop=0px%2C28px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Pumpkin-Spice-Latte-Cost-Lot-More" }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/08/Money-Chart-PSL-Prices.png", "width": 551, "height": 835 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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