GREENSBORO, N.C. — This time last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms most of us were paying $1.82 cents for a dozen eggs. What a difference a year makes. The average price is now $3.60.
2 Wants To Know shopped around online for prices at Food Lion, Lowes, Walmart, Publix, and Harris Teeter. For each, the 18-egg count price is first, then the dozen-egg count.
The highest prices for both 18 and 12 counts were found at Publix with $6.31 for a dozen eggs and nearly $10 for 18 eggs.
We searched discount stores as well like Trader Joe's and Aldi. Both had prices listed for a dozen eggs and both prices were higher than most other of their mainstream competitors, around $4.79.
The store with the cheapest prices is Harris Teeter. HT had the best prices for both the 18-count ($3.99) and the dozen eggs ($2.69).
How can one store have $3.00 eggs and another have $6.00 eggs?
“Some stores, depending on who they supply from, at this point in time, have a good supply and they can maintain that. Maybe the prices from their supplies haven't gone up as they begin to stabilize. Maybe in another part of the state, it hasn't reached that, and in another market, it's gone down even further. So, it's really a combination of factors as to what drives that price,” said Brandon Scholz, President of the Wisconsin Grocers Association.
You might be wondering, is it like this in other places? Scholz says it is.
"Go anywhere in the country, pick your favorite state, and you're going see the same thing at the counter,” said Scholz.
The three main reasons for the increases: are inflation, demand is up, and the bird flu. For the next few months, it will pay to shop around.