Ground Beef Prices Are Soaring to Record Highs—Here’s What to Know originally appeared on Parade.
How much would you actually pay for a burger? $3? $8? How about $20? Sure, we’ve all had our fair share of burgers at wildly different price points, but even the wealthiest among us has their limits. No hate to anyone willing and able to drop $1000 on a gold-encrusted burger topped with caviar, creme fraiche, and lobster—but if we’re being totally honest, it reads a bit gaudy. Can it even be considered a burger at that point?
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Regardless, as humble as the burger is, it’s not always the relatively cheap $4 value meal we’ve come to expect from Wendy’s. Due to rising ingredient costs and quality of the beef, that unassuming sandwich could end up costing you a pretty penny. Of course, the solution used to be to make your own at home, but according to recent reporting, we might end up paying a lot more for our usual certified Angus beef. Experts are sounding the alarm on rapidly increasing ground beef prices across the United States, and you might want to pay attention.
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Much like the recent “egg-flation” crises that plagued the nation, ground beef has soared to a whopping $6.12 per pound on average, up from $5.98 in May and $5.47 in June of 2024. Shrinking cattle herds and looming restrictions on imports imposed by the Trump administration have fueled the stunning increase, leaving consumers to foot the bill. According to experts, the trend doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing, and we likely won’t see any relief for the next two or three years. Talk about an expensive burger.
While this isn’t the first time beef prices have risen, it is the first time since data collection began in the 1980s that they have reached over $6 per pound. According to the Consumer Price Index released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on July 15, steaks saw the most significant increase among beef products in June—up 12.4 percent since June 2024 at an unadjusted rate, followed by ground beef at 10.3 percent.
Environmental constraints, elevated grain prices, inflation, and rising interest rates have prompted farmers to reduce their herds, resulting in demand outpacing supply by a drastic margin. Additionally, looming tariffs on countries from which the United States sources much of its beef, such as Mexico and Canada, have driven the price up even higher. According to Patrick Montgomery, the CEO and co-founder of the Kansas City Cattle Company, the latest price increases are “just the tip of the iceberg,” and further added that “Prices for beef will continue to be tumultuous for the next two to four years.”
Yikes. Looks like we may have to switch to turkey burgers for a while.
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Ground Beef Prices Are Soaring to Record Highs—Here’s What to Know first appeared on Parade on Jul 22, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared.
