Contents
- Retail meat prices statistics: October 2026 beef changes
- Retail meat prices statistics: pork and cured meat changes
- Retail meat prices statistics: poultry changes
- retail meat prices: Retail meat price movements across beef cuts
- retail meat prices: Retail pork price movements across cuts and prepared meats
- retail meat prices: Retail chicken and turkey price movements
- Sources
Retail meat prices statistics: October 2026 beef changes
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a seasonally adjusted 0.9% increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for beef and veal from September to October 2026. This is a change in an index, not a retail price quoted in dollars per pound. It describes the direction and size of the measured month-to-month change for the category in the U.S. city average. BLS Table 6
The overall beef-and-veal category moved upward, but its component series did not all move in the same direction. Uncooked ground beef rose 1.2%, while uncooked beef roasts fell 0.1%. The table also reports a 1.7% increase for uncooked beef steaks and a 0.9% increase for uncooked other beef and veal. These figures cover September to October 2026 and are seasonally adjusted CPI-U index changes. BLS Table 6
| Beef and veal CPI-U series | Seasonally adjusted change, September–October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Beef and veal | 0.9% |
| Uncooked ground beef | 1.2% |
| Uncooked beef roasts | -0.1% |
| Uncooked beef steaks | 1.7% |
| Uncooked other beef and veal | 0.9% |
The spread of positive and negative movements is useful context when reading the broad category. The 0.9% figure for beef and veal does not mean that every beef cut rose by that amount. The detailed entries give separate movements for the named series, while the overall category captures a broader set of consumer purchases. The dataset provides no dollar-per-pound values with which to compare the cost of one cut against another. BLS Table 6
Retail meat prices statistics: pork and cured meat changes
The seasonally adjusted CPI-U for pork increased 0.1% from September to October 2026. This broad category change was close to flat in direction, while named pork and cured-meat series in the same table showed larger moves both up and down. The series should be read individually rather than treated as interchangeable measures of all pork products. BLS Table 6
Bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products rose 0.8%. Within that area, bacon and related products fell 0.5%, while breakfast sausage and related products rose 1.3%. Ham declined 1.7%, and ham excluding canned declined 2.2%. The two ham entries refer to overlapping category definitions, so they are not separate price quotes for a single identical product. BLS Table 6
| Pork and cured-meat CPI-U series | Seasonally adjusted change, September–October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Pork | 0.1% |
| Bacon, breakfast sausage, and related products | 0.8% |
| Bacon and related products | -0.5% |
| Breakfast sausage and related products | 1.3% |
| Ham | -1.7% |
| Ham, excluding canned | -2.2% |
Together, these results show why a broad pork reading can conceal variation among product groupings. The 0.1% increase for pork sits alongside an increase in breakfast sausage and declines in the bacon and ham series. The table measures CPI-U movement over one month; it does not establish the reason for those changes or show how a particular store’s shelf prices changed. BLS Table 6
Retail meat prices statistics: poultry changes
The BLS table reports a 0.8% seasonally adjusted increase in the CPI-U for poultry from September to October 2026. Chicken rose 0.5%, while fresh whole chicken fell 0.8%. Fresh and frozen chicken parts increased 0.8%, and other uncooked poultry, including turkey, rose 1.9%. BLS Table 6
| Poultry CPI-U series | Seasonally adjusted change, September–October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Poultry | 0.8% |
| Chicken | 0.5% |
| Fresh whole chicken | -0.8% |
| Fresh and frozen chicken parts | 0.8% |
| Other uncooked poultry, including turkey | 1.9% |
The direction differs by product grouping: whole chicken moved down, while chicken parts and the turkey-inclusive category moved up. The 1.9% reading applies to “other uncooked poultry including turkey,” not to turkey alone. Similarly, the broad poultry and chicken indexes are category measures; they are not individual package prices. BLS Table 6
retail meat prices: Retail meat price movements across beef cuts
The October 2026 observations give a limited but clear comparison across beef groupings. Uncooked steaks recorded the largest increase among the beef series listed here, at 1.7%. Ground beef rose 1.2%, while uncooked other beef and veal and the broader beef-and-veal category each rose 0.9%. Uncooked roasts were the only listed beef series to decline, at 0.1%. BLS Table 6
These are month-to-month index changes, so the figures describe relative movement over the specified period. They do not rank the cuts by price level, tell how many dollars a shopper paid, or establish that one cut costs more than another. No beef series here supplies a per-pound price or a longer-term comparison. BLS Table 6
The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) maintains a separate Meat Price Spreads dataset that covers national-average retail prices for beef and pork cuts, turkey, whole chickens, and other categories. Its retail price file provides monthly estimates for the latest 24 months. The October 2026 release page was reviewed, but numerical values from its linked CSV and XLSX files were not available in the checked material used for this article. No ERS price levels are therefore stated here. USDA ERS Meat Price Spreads
retail meat prices: Retail pork price movements across cuts and prepared meats
The pork detail also differs across cuts and prepared products. Pork chops fell 1.0% from September to October 2026, while other pork—including roasts, steaks, and ribs—rose 0.4%. Among prepared meats, frankfurters fell 0.9%, other meats rose 0.3%, and lunchmeats increased 1.6%. Each is a seasonally adjusted CPI-U change for the U.S. city average. BLS Table 6
| Pork, prepared-meat, and related CPI-U series | Seasonally adjusted change, September–October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Pork chops | -1.0% |
| Other pork, including roasts, steaks, and ribs | 0.4% |
| Frankfurters | -0.9% |
| Other meats | 0.3% |
| Lunchmeats | 1.6% |
This grouping illustrates the limits of using a single “meat price” figure to describe the shopping basket. The measured changes range from declines for pork chops and frankfurters to increases for lunchmeats and other pork. “Other meats” is the source’s category label; it should not be read as a precise synonym for pork. These values show category-level index movement, not the price of a particular brand, package, or serving. BLS Table 6
retail meat prices: Retail chicken and turkey price movements
For poultry, the broad CPI-U series rose 0.8%, and the chicken series rose 0.5% from September to October 2026. At a narrower level, fresh whole chicken declined 0.8%, while fresh and frozen chicken parts increased 0.8%. These different directions are compatible because the series represent distinct product groupings rather than one identical item. BLS Table 6
The largest poultry-category increase among the checked readings was 1.9% for other uncooked poultry, including turkey. This is a combined source category, so it does not isolate a turkey-only movement. The BLS figures also do not provide dollar-per-pound prices. They support a comparison of index direction and magnitude for the stated month, not a claim about the exact cost of a turkey or chicken in a store. BLS Table 6
The time period matters when interpreting these retail meat prices statistics. BLS did not collect October 2025 survey data and therefore could not publish October 2026 12-month percentage changes for series without October 2025 indexes. The month-to-month figures reported above are available, but they should not be presented as annual changes or as current-year retail price levels. BLS Consumer Price Index News Release
The evidence here is therefore specific: seasonally adjusted CPI-U category movements for the U.S. city average between September and October 2026, plus a description of the separate ERS retail-price dataset whose linked numerical files were not readable in the checked material. Readers comparing a shopping receipt or a specific cut need price-level data that matches the product, unit, location, and date; these index changes alone do not supply those details.