What groceries cost in Texas right now.

Grocery inflation in Texas metros

BLS publishes a Consumer Price Index for Dallas–Fort Worth and for Houston. Both come out every two months, so Houston’s latest reading is August and DFW’s is September.

Next releases: Houston’s October 2026 CPI comes out Nov 10, 2026, and DFW’s November 2026 CPI comes out Dec 10, 2026. Updates Nov 10 BLS does not publish a CPI for Austin, San Antonio or El Paso. H-E-B, the state’s biggest grocer, is private and does not publish a price index.

Staple prices in the South

BLS collects average shelf prices for the South census region, which runs from Texas to Delaware. It does not collect them for Texas alone, but these are the closest official prices for a Texas grocery cart. The prices are urban averages, before any sales tax (and most of these items are not taxed in Texas anyway).

Prices are rounded to the cent from BLS’s three-decimal figures, and the percent changes are our math. The national average for a dozen eggs was $2.27 in September 2026.

What’s taxed at the grocery store

Texas exempts grocery food from its 6.25% state sales tax and from local sales tax. Plenty of what goes in a cart is still taxed at the full local rate, up to 8.25%, though. Here is the split, based on the Comptroller’s guide for grocery and convenience stores (Pub. 96-280, revised March 2024).

Not taxed

• Basic groceries: flour, sugar, bread, milk, eggs, fruit, vegetables, packaged lunch meat, and food you heat at home.
• Coffee and tea you brew yourself (beans, grounds, pods, tea bags) and unsweetened bottled coffee and tea.
• Plain bottled water, including sparkling and mineral water.
• Cut fruit, vegetable and cheese trays that were only sliced and repackaged.
• Baby food, formula, diapers and wipes, feminine hygiene products, over-the-counter drugs with a Drug Facts label, and most vitamins and supplements.
• Bakery items from a store that is mainly a bakery, as long as they come without plates or utensils.

Taxed

• Soft drinks and sweetened drinks, flavored water, most sports and energy drinks, and “-ades” or punches with 50% juice or less.
• Candy and gum, including chocolate-covered or candied nuts and fruit.
• Prepared food: hot food, deli sandwiches and salads, food sold with utensils, and anything the store heats for you.
• Single-serving snacks (under 2.5 oz) and vending-machine food.
• Beer, wine and liquor; ice; pet food; paper goods; cleaning supplies; cosmetics and toiletries (with some exceptions); and CBD products.

Items that would be taxed are tax-free when you pay for them with SNAP benefits (Pub. 96-280). Local rates by city are on our Texas sales tax and Texas taxes pages.

How much to budget: USDA food plans

USDA prices four food plans every month, from the bare-bones Thrifty plan to the Liberal plan. These are U.S. averages for cooking at home, with no restaurant meals included. USDA does not publish a Texas version, but since most Texas groceries are untaxed, shelf prices are what you pay, and the plans are a fair guide for budgeting here.

USDA prints the Thrifty family total itself. The Low-cost, Moderate and Liberal family totals are our sums of USDA’s per-person costs, since that report lists only individuals. Costs assume a four-person household, and USDA adjusts them for smaller or larger ones. The Thrifty plan was reworked in 2021, which is why it can come out about even with the Low-cost plan for some adults. The Thrifty plan is also the basis for SNAP’s maximum benefit, below.

SNAP and WIC in Texas

SNAP (Lone Star Card)

Texas Health and Human Services runs SNAP. You apply at YourTexasBenefits.com, and benefits arrive each month on a Lone Star Card that works like a debit card at stores that take SNAP (HHSC). About 3.3 million Texans receive it. Most adults 18 to 64 with no children under 14 in the home can only get three months of benefits in three years unless they work or train at least 20 hours a week, though there are exemptions. Households where everyone is 60 or older or has a disability can use a simpler application and get three years of benefits at a time.

Most households get less than the maximum, because the benefit shrinks as income rises. The minimum benefit for one- and two-person households is $25. HHSC’s income table is undated and does not say whether it is gross or net income, so check with HHSC or call 2-1-1 before you rule yourself in or out. Since April 1, 2026, SNAP in Texas can no longer buy candy, gum or sweetened drinks, meaning drinks made with water that have 5 grams or more of added sugar or any artificial sweetener.

WIC

WIC covers pregnant women, new mothers (up to six months after birth, or a year if breastfeeding), and children under 5. It provides food benefits on a WIC card plus nutrition counseling and breastfeeding support. Families on Medicaid, SNAP or TANF automatically meet the income test. Apply at texaswic.org or call 800-942-3678.

WIC income limits from Texas WIC, checked Oct 31, 2026. A pregnant woman counts each expected baby in her household size.

Out-of-date numbers you’ll still find online

Related pages

For full monthly budgets, see how much it costs to live in Texas and the city pages for Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. Pay data is on Texas salaries, and summer bills are on Texas summer costs.

How we check

Every figure links to its source and shows the date it applies to. We prefer the agency that produces the number and label anything from a broker, marketplace or aggregator. Read the full methodology.