Farm & food prices · Retail prices

Whole chickens: what a pound costs in the South

Name: Whole chickens: what a pound costs in the South
Creator: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The average price shoppers paid in urban stores each month, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Up to dateMonthly, with the consumer price index, about the middle of the following month Last published Oct 14, 2026. Next expected November 2026.

The latest figures and how they have changed

South · September 2026

$1.95 a pound,up 2.1% in a year

Against $1.91 in September 2025, the same month a year earlier.

Price of a pound, each month

Chart by TallyTill · tallytill.com

South: $1.95 a pound in September 2026.

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What the numbers say

South's average retail price is 0.9 times the US average.
Since January 1980 it has risen 185.1%, from $0.68 to $1.95 a pound.
Gaps are months with no South figure: BLS had no figure available in April 2020 and May 2020, and BLS never collected the figure in October 2025 (federal shutdown). Nothing is filled in.

The line breaks at April 2020, May 2020, October 2025: BLS collected no prices in those months.

Whole chickens: the figures

Dollars a pound, as BLS publishes them, newest first.

The average price shoppers paid for whole chickens in US cities each month, as recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not seasonally adjusted. Average price, Jan 1980 to Sep 2026. Not seasonally adjusted.
Month	South
Sep 2026	$1.947
Aug 2026	$1.930
Jul 2026	$1.898
Jun 2026	$1.955
May 2026	$1.899
Apr 2026	$1.903
Mar 2026	$1.894
Feb 2026	$1.894
Jan 2026	$1.876
Dec 2025	$1.909
Nov 2025	$1.905
Oct 2025	Not collected
Sep 2025	$1.907
Aug 2025	$1.928
Jul 2025	$1.939
Jun 2025	$1.929
May 2025	$1.943
Apr 2025	$1.900
Mar 2025	$1.929
Feb 2025	$1.919
Jan 2025	$1.912
Dec 2024	$1.942
Nov 2024	$1.967
Oct 2024	$1.847
Sep 2024	$1.837
Aug 2024	$1.849
Jul 2024	$1.866
Jun 2024	$1.849
May 2024	$1.872
Apr 2024	$1.777
Mar 2024	$1.850
Feb 2024	$1.776
Jan 2024	$1.808
Dec 2023	$1.788
Nov 2023	$1.808
Oct 2023	$1.785
Sep 2023	$1.769
Aug 2023	$1.834
Jul 2023	$1.756
Jun 2023	$1.823
May 2023	$1.792
Apr 2023	$1.760
Mar 2023	$1.746
Feb 2023	$1.763
Jan 2023	$1.725
Dec 2022	$1.737
Nov 2022	$1.751
Oct 2022	$1.764
Sep 2022	$1.786
Aug 2022	$1.778
Jul 2022	$1.732
Jun 2022	$1.684
May 2022	$1.632
Apr 2022	$1.596
Mar 2022	$1.543
Feb 2022	$1.460
Jan 2022	$1.436
Dec 2021	$1.440
Nov 2021	$1.454
Oct 2021	$1.386
Sep 2021	$1.349
Aug 2021	$1.319
Jul 2021	$1.293
Jun 2021	$1.335
May 2021	$1.351
Apr 2021	$1.395
Mar 2021	$1.411
Feb 2021	$1.427
Jan 2021	$1.471
Dec 2020	$1.446
Nov 2020	$1.509
Oct 2020	$1.455
Sep 2020	$1.464
Aug 2020	$1.454
Jul 2020	$1.389
Jun 2020	$1.436
May 2020	Not collected
Apr 2020	Not collected
Mar 2020	$1.221
Feb 2020	$1.240
Jan 2020	$1.251
Dec 2019	$1.255
Nov 2019	$1.177
Oct 2019	$1.295
Sep 2019	$1.304
Aug 2019	$1.319
Jul 2019	$1.364
Jun 2019	$1.340
May 2019	$1.255
Apr 2019	$1.245
Mar 2019	$1.299
Feb 2019	$1.299
Jan 2019	$1.290
Dec 2018	$1.300
Nov 2018	$1.306
Oct 2018	$1.301
Sep 2018	$1.310
Aug 2018	$1.329
Jul 2018	$1.313
Jun 2018	$1.322
May 2018	$1.328
Apr 2018	$1.299
Mar 2018	$1.323
Feb 2018	$1.271
Jan 2018	$1.312
Dec 2017	$1.320
Nov 2017	$1.315
Oct 2017	$1.316
Sep 2017	$1.310
Aug 2017	$1.324
Jul 2017	$1.311
Jun 2017	$1.313
May 2017	$1.373
Apr 2017	$1.304
Mar 2017	$1.304
Feb 2017	$1.320
Jan 2017	$1.316
Dec 2016	$1.300
Nov 2016	$1.311
Oct 2016	$1.282

The line breaks at April 2020, May 2020, October 2025: BLS collected no prices in those months. This table shows the last 10 years. The CSV holds every month.

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By region

The four Census regions, urban areas, last 5 years. Every panel uses the same scale, so heights compare directly.

The region US city average

$2.15 down 0.9%

$2.15 down 3.1%

$1.95 up 2.1%

$2.18 up 0.8%

Chart by TallyTill · tallytill.com

September 2026: Northeast $2.15, Midwest $2.15, South $1.95, West $2.18, a pound.

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Whole chickens: the regional figures

Dollars a pound, as BLS publishes them, newest first.

The average price shoppers paid for whole chickens in US cities each month, as recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not seasonally adjusted. Average price, Oct 2016 to Sep 2026. Not seasonally adjusted.
Month	US city average	Northeast	Midwest	South	West
Sep 2026	$2.064	$2.148	$2.149	$1.947	$2.177
Aug 2026	$2.012	$2.121	$2.128	$1.930	$2.004
Jul 2026	$2.005	$2.187	$2.095	$1.898	$2.012
Jun 2026	$2.044	$2.151	$2.091	$1.955	$2.102
May 2026	$2.036	$2.181	$2.169	$1.899	$2.093
Apr 2026	$2.026	$2.025	$2.152	$1.903	$2.139
Mar 2026	$2.033	$2.087	$2.190	$1.894	$2.115
Feb 2026	$2.049	$2.197	$2.176	$1.894	$2.119
Jan 2026	$2.041	$2.197	$2.145	$1.876	$2.136
Dec 2025	$2.020	$2.166	$2.162	$1.909	$2.011
Nov 2025	$2.044	$2.153	$2.097	$1.905	$2.167
Oct 2025	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected	Not collected
Sep 2025	$2.061	$2.168	$2.218	$1.907	$2.160
Aug 2025	$2.076	$2.189	$2.199	$1.928	$2.183
Jul 2025	$2.078	$2.162	$2.207	$1.939	$2.187
Jun 2025	$2.086	$2.147	$2.230	$1.929	$2.234
May 2025	$2.061	$2.176	$2.154	$1.943	$2.134
Apr 2025	$2.059	$2.158	$2.099	$1.900	$2.245
Mar 2025	$2.064	$2.160	$2.154	$1.929	$2.180
Feb 2025	$2.051	$2.031	$2.167	$1.919	$2.224
Jan 2025	$2.061	$2.150	$2.162	$1.912	$2.204
Dec 2024	$2.061	$2.164	$2.144	$1.942	$2.152
Nov 2024	$2.076	$2.175	$2.156	$1.967	$2.144
Oct 2024	$1.987	$2.150	$2.147	$1.847	$2.146
Sep 2024	$1.979	$2.170	$2.115	$1.837	$2.135
Aug 2024	$1.988	$2.177	$2.095	$1.849	$2.152
Jul 2024	$1.988	$2.061	$2.140	$1.866	$2.158
Jun 2024	$2.007	$2.143	$2.072	$1.849	$2.286
May 2024	$2.013	$2.174	$2.019	$1.872	$2.242
Apr 2024	$1.953	$2.175	$1.930	$1.777	$2.186
Mar 2024	$1.991	$2.196	$1.946	$1.850	$2.166
Feb 2024	$1.951	$2.243	$1.917	$1.776	$2.133
Jan 2024	$1.987	$2.256	$1.984	$1.808	$2.167
Dec 2023	$1.955	$2.224	$1.971	$1.788	$2.104
Nov 2023	$1.976	$2.153	$1.925	$1.808	$2.206
Oct 2023	$1.926	$2.132	$1.877	$1.785	$2.096
Sep 2023	$1.901	$2.084	$1.869	$1.769	$2.063
Aug 2023	$1.958	$2.261	$1.852	$1.834	$2.068
Jul 2023	$1.891	$2.109	$1.844	$1.756	$2.040
Jun 2023	$1.953	$2.223	$1.792	$1.823	$2.127
May 2023	$1.920	$2.172	$1.718	$1.792	$2.126
Apr 2023	$1.873	$2.121	$1.789	$1.760	$1.997
Mar 2023	$1.868	$2.038	$1.831	$1.746	$2.036
Feb 2023	$1.894	$2.108	$1.896	$1.763	$2.025
Jan 2023	$1.855	$2.031	$1.835	$1.725	$2.021
Dec 2022	$1.830	$1.873	$1.866	$1.737	$1.973
Nov 2022	$1.843	$1.918	$1.868	$1.751	$1.968
Oct 2022	$1.863	$1.948	$1.807	$1.764	$2.025
Sep 2022	$1.891	$1.868	$1.882	$1.786	$2.116
Aug 2022	$1.879	$1.827	$1.873	$1.778	$2.107
Jul 2022	$1.880	$1.845	$1.935	$1.732	$2.143
Jun 2022	$1.826	$1.912	$1.886	$1.684	$2.025
May 2022	$1.824	$2.027	$1.920	$1.632	$2.026
Apr 2022	$1.794	$1.914	$1.903	$1.596	$2.036
Mar 2022	$1.724	$1.897	$1.697	$1.543	$2.004
Feb 2022	$1.632	$1.862	$1.648	$1.460	$1.846
Jan 2022	$1.622	$1.839	$1.680	$1.436	$1.828
Dec 2021	$1.606	$1.874	$1.644	$1.440	$1.756
Nov 2021	$1.583	$1.874	$1.619	$1.454	$1.661
Oct 2021	$1.523	$1.744	$1.542	$1.386	$1.664
Sep 2021	$1.504	Not collected	$1.482	$1.349	$1.677
Aug 2021	$1.472	Not collected	$1.518	$1.319	$1.552
Jul 2021	$1.435	Not collected	$1.494	$1.293	$1.535
Jun 2021	$1.474	Not collected	$1.488	$1.335	$1.576
May 2021	$1.486	Not collected	$1.453	$1.351	$1.630
Apr 2021	$1.515	Not collected	$1.429	$1.395	$1.656
Mar 2021	$1.543	Not collected	$1.519	$1.411	$1.681
Feb 2021	$1.583	Not collected	$1.740	$1.427	$1.662
Jan 2021	$1.595	Not collected	$1.756	$1.471	$1.624
Dec 2020	$1.621	Not collected	$1.781	$1.446	$1.680
Nov 2020	$1.639	Not collected	$1.753	$1.509	$1.674
Oct 2020	$1.580	Not collected	$1.733	$1.455	$1.574
Sep 2020	$1.542	Not collected	$1.640	$1.464	$1.538
Aug 2020	$1.609	Not collected	$1.740	$1.454	$1.678
Jul 2020	$1.712	Not collected	$2.300	$1.389	$1.665
Jun 2020	$1.747	Not collected	$2.371	$1.436	$1.619
May 2020	Not collected	Not collected	$2.348	Not collected	$1.651
Apr 2020	$1.571	Not collected	$1.777	Not collected	$1.689
Mar 2020	$1.400	Not collected	$1.405	$1.221	$1.561
Feb 2020	$1.362	Not collected	$1.387	$1.240	$1.495
Jan 2020	$1.409	Not collected	$1.399	$1.251	$1.617
Dec 2019	$1.450	Not collected	$1.538	$1.255	$1.676
Nov 2019	$1.430	Not collected	$1.712	$1.177	$1.606
Oct 2019	$1.538	$1.888	$1.702	$1.295	$1.587
Sep 2019	$1.487	$1.751	$1.661	$1.304	$1.488
Aug 2019	$1.514	$1.782	$1.703	$1.319	$1.525
Jul 2019	$1.562	Not collected	$1.664	$1.364	$1.573
Jun 2019	$1.590	Not collected	$1.706	$1.340	$1.658
May 2019	$1.479	Not collected	$1.491	$1.255	$1.659
Apr 2019	$1.463	Not collected	$1.605	$1.245	$1.530
Mar 2019	$1.468	Not collected	$1.585	$1.299	$1.437
Feb 2019	$1.486	Not collected	$1.565	$1.299	$1.565
Jan 2019	$1.473	$1.791	$1.544	$1.290	$1.496
Dec 2018	$1.466	$1.516	$1.610	$1.300	$1.598
Nov 2018	$1.501	$1.655	$1.617	$1.306	$1.630
Oct 2018	$1.444	$1.558	$1.557	$1.301	$1.539
Sep 2018	$1.487	$1.637	$1.630	$1.310	$1.607
Aug 2018	$1.511	$1.692	$1.631	$1.329	$1.636
Jul 2018	$1.519	$1.808	$1.640	$1.313	$1.607
Jun 2018	$1.514	$1.778	$1.653	$1.322	$1.586
May 2018	$1.523	Not collected	$1.639	$1.328	$1.629
Apr 2018	$1.511	$1.901	$1.596	$1.299	$1.648
Mar 2018	$1.502	$1.853	$1.535	$1.323	$1.644
Feb 2018	$1.478	$1.861	$1.539	$1.271	$1.631
Jan 2018	$1.509	$1.946	$1.550	$1.312	$1.624
Dec 2017	$1.470	$2.002	$1.363	$1.320	$1.536
Nov 2017	$1.451	$1.875	$1.368	$1.315	$1.546
Oct 2017	$1.484	$1.880	$1.364	$1.316	$1.650
Sep 2017	$1.480	$1.839	$1.314	$1.310	$1.729
Aug 2017	$1.489	$1.805	$1.323	$1.324	$1.757
Jul 2017	$1.496	$1.860	$1.317	$1.311	$1.798
Jun 2017	$1.497	$1.857	$1.333	$1.313	$1.775
May 2017	$1.499	$1.757	$1.350	$1.373	$1.756
Apr 2017	$1.444	$1.792	$1.320	$1.304	$1.602
Mar 2017	$1.462	$1.792	$1.311	$1.304	$1.675
Feb 2017	$1.473	$1.852	$1.338	$1.320	$1.640
Jan 2017	$1.418	$1.831	$1.266	$1.316	$1.501
Dec 2016	$1.463	$1.735	$1.329	$1.300	$1.700
Nov 2016	$1.478	$1.696	$1.239	$1.311	$1.819
Oct 2016	$1.502	$1.809	$1.335	$1.282	$1.813

This table shows the last 10 years. The CSV holds every month.

Download CSV

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data. Retrieved October 23, 2026. Not seasonally adjusted.
BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. BLS series APU0000706111, APU0100706111, APU0200706111, APU0300706111, APU0400706111, average price in urban areas. BLS data are in the public domain.

What this measures

It is BLS's average of the prices its staff record in stores in urban areas, for one item of a set size. BLS says these averages are best for the price level in a month, not for price change over time.