Consumer Reports: Costco 21% Cheaper Than Walmart for Standardized Groceries

A Consumer Reports price comparison published in February 2026 put Costco at the bottom of the price list, with a 56-item basket averaging 21.4% lower than Walmart’s national average. The study, compiled with New York–based Strategic Resource Group, used Walmart as the baseline and ranked chains from least to most expensive for that standardized basket.

Strategic Resource Group collected in-store prices in late summer 2025 across six regionally representative markets: Boston; Chicago; Dallas and Fort Worth; Denver; Los Angeles; and Virginia Beach. The firm “compared prices on baskets of commonly purchased items at mainstream grocery chains in six regionally representative cities across the U.S.,” the coverage relayed. The hypothetical basket contained 56 items in total; Target and Walmart carried all 56 items in the test while Trader Joe’s stocked only 23, a limitation Consumer Reports acknowledged when interpreting the chain-by-chain results.

Costco and BJ’s Wholesale Club emerged as the biggest undercutters of Walmart’s prices. Costco’s cart averaged 21.4% lower than Walmart’s, while BJ’s was reported about 21% cheaper. Discount grocers also beat Walmart: Allrecipes showed Aldi 8.3% cheaper and Lidl 8.5% cheaper, while H‑E‑B appeared roughly 0.2% cheaper. By contrast, Allrecipes’ list placed Target 5.9% more expensive than Walmart, Wegmans 7.6% higher, Safeway 8.8% higher, Meijer 9.9% higher, Trader Joe’s 24.6% higher and Whole Foods 39.7% higher.

Delish summarized the headline finding bluntly: “Only six chains nationwide had lower prices than Walmart, and the cheapest grocery store in America was none other than Costco.” Delish and other outlets traced Costco’s advantage to operational choices: direct sourcing from manufacturers, a much smaller SKU count—around 4,000 compared with a typical supermarket’s roughly 30,000—bulk packaging that reduces per-serving costs, and a heavy push of Kirkland Signature private-label items that undercut name brands. Those same outlets flagged the practical tradeoff for shoppers: lower per-unit prices often require higher up-front spending to buy in bulk, and savings are only available to members.

Membership matters in the math. Tasting Table and Delish noted Costco’s lowest-level membership runs $65 per year and BJ’s base membership is about $60, which limits access for shoppers unwilling or unable to pay annual fees. The study also omitted Sam’s Club from the comparison; Consumer Reports did not provide a reason for that omission.

Finance reporting captured the scale of variation in U.S. grocery pricing: “The range between the most expensive and least expensive mainstream supermarkets was a wallet-walloping 33%,” and the gap widened when warehouse clubs were included. Whole Foods pushed back on the study’s framing, saying the survey “didn’t account for factors such as its quality standards, price cuts on many items and member benefits.”

For Walmart, the Consumer Reports snapshot tightens the competitive lens on price and membership strategy. With Costco and BJ’s posting roughly 21% lower carts on the standardized basket, and discount chains like Aldi and Lidl undercutting Walmart by about 8%, the findings crystallize where Walmart is losing its single-number claim to the lowest grocery prices and where it may need to sharpen its response.