Finding the cheapest grocery stores near where you live can be challenging, especially in 2021 and 2022 because of the insanely high inflation of common goods. The price of Groceries was up over 13% in 2022 according to bls.gov. High inflation has caused many that I know to switch from brand-name groceries to off-brand generic groceries such as Great Value. In a social media group of over 35 thousand people from around the USA, there was a general consensus that everyone has seen their grocery bill increase at least 25-30 percent over the last two years and that is considering that most of those same people have made an effort to reduce their cost at the grocery store.
What are the cheapest stores to grocery shop?
In reality, the cheapest stores to grocery shop at are Salvage grocery stores (also known as Bent ‘n Dent stores or Banana Box stores), Dollar stores, Amish bulk food stores (see our Amish Store Locator to find a store near you), and for emergency food storage LDS Canneries (Home Storage Centers). Also, we put together a detailed list of the best places to buy bulk food online for a discount.
However, these types of grocery stores have limited selections and regularly changing inventories, so you will unlikely find all of your grocery needs without also visiting a larger chain grocery store.
As you search for cheaper groceries also consider these 30 things that you can do to handle the high cost of living and inflation.
Cheapest Grocery Stores Ranked By Common People
In an effort to help locate the cheapest grocery stores all around America, I posted a poll on social media asking average people what stores they have found the cheapest groceries. The poll was conducted in a group of over 20 thousand people who all live in different States around America.
It is important to note that the intent of the poll and what I have identified is chain grocery stores around America that common people have found to have the cheapest generic off-brand groceries just in general. Obviously, anyone with enough time on their hands can search for rotating deals and compare each grocery item from all the different grocery stores in their area.
The 14 Cheapest Grocery Stores include:
- Winco Foods (Pacific Northwest)
- Aldi (Midwest, East, Texas, and Oklahoma)
- Market Basket (New England)
- Grocery Outlet (West and Pennsylvania)
- Save A Lot
- Lidl (Northeast & South-Atlantic)
- Food-4-Less (West Coast)
- Commissary
- Price Rite Marketplace
- H-E-B (Texas)
- Fareway Meat & Grocery
- Costco Wholesale
- Walmart
- Trader Joe’s
The above list is according to My Poll and DunnHumby’s Retailer Preference Index (see the Shelby Report summary).
1. Winco Foods (Western USA)
Winco Foods started in Idaho and now has store locations all around the Western United States. This massive grocery store has a large selection of bulk foods including products such as coffee, grains, snacks, and pasta that are sold in bulk and can be purchased by the pound, and a good selection of herbs and spices that can be purchased by the ounce.
How Winco Keeps the Cost of Groceries Low
Winco Foods is an employee-owned bulk grocery store that is able to sell its groceries for cheaper because of the following reasons:
- They don’t accept credit cards.
- They don’t Employ baggers.
- They don’t spend any money on advertising.
- They buy much of their food directly from manufacturers and farmers.
What to Buy at Winco
My favorite groceries to buy discount at Winco include:
- Bulk food items (price by weight and you can choose how much you package up and they offer over 800 bulk items)
- Grains
- Variety of snacks
- Dry Pasta
- Herbs and spices
- Items with green tags (items on sale)
- Produce
- Common boxed groceries
See more groceries and services that Winco Foods offers on its website.
Where You Can Find Winco Grocery Stores
Winco can be found in states all throughout the West including Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona.
Click on the above map to interact with it.
You can use the above map to search for a Winco store near you. To help you can either “View larger map” and search near your location or visit Winco’s location finder tool.
2. Aldi (Midwest, East, Texas, and Oklahoma)
Aldi is a multinational family-owned discount supermarket chain operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. Roughly 90 percent of Aldi’s products are their own private label store brands but have a similar taste and packaging that imitates brand name items.
How Aldi Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
Here is a list of ways Aldi keeps the cost of their groceries cheaper than competitors.
- They don’t sell brand-name goods.
- They sell discontinued or overstock products.
- Have a smaller selection and smaller physical stores.
- They have fewer workers (saves on overhead).
- They take less time to restock shelves.
- The way they use boxes, milk racks, and pre-packaged produce saves on work.
- Use minimal decorations.
- Customers have to shop using their own bags or pay for Aldi’s bags.
- They don’t spend as much on marketing or ads.
- They use a shopping cart system that allows for less employee time and attention.
- They operate on reduced hours.
What to Buy at Aldi
Favorite things that people like to buy at Aldi’s include:
- Baking supplies
- Spices
- Fresh produce
- Dairy
- Rice
- Pasta
- Wine
- Chocolate
- Cheeses
- Canned goods
- Deli meats (Wednesdays they have meat specials)
- Peanut Butter
See more groceries and services that Aldi offers on its website.
Where You Can Find Aldi Grocery Stores
See this map on Aldi’s website to search for the nearest grocery store to you.
You can also use this filtering tool to search for one of the 2,000+ Aldi grocery store locations that are in one of 39 different states in the Midwest, East, Texas, and Oklahoma.
3. Market Basket (New England)
Market Basket is a chain of over 80 grocery stores that operate in four different states. They have operated for over 100 years and are highly ranked by consumer reports for customer friendliness and satisfaction.
How Market Basket Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
This grocery store carries a tagline of “More for Your Dollar”. They are able to keep their groceries cheaper than their competitors by:
- Running a debt-free business so they won’t have to worry about covering interest charges on recurring debt payments.
- They charge for paper or plastic shopping bags or customers can bring their own.
- They streamline purchasing for their stores by selling the same products at all locations and passing the savings on to customers.
What to Buy at Market Basket
Some of the favorite, cheaper groceries here include:
- Produce
- Dairy
- Frozen foods
- Deli meats
- Canned goods
- Boxed shelf-stable goods
- Cheeses
- Bakery
- Common groceries
See all the groceries and services that Market Basket offers on its website.
Where You Can Find Market Basket Grocery Stores
Market Basket grocery stores are located in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine. See their store locator and map to find a grocery store near you.
4. Grocery Outlet (West and Pennsylvania)
The Grocery Outlet is considered an “extreme value” supermarket and has been described as “the TJMaxx of grocery stores”. They keep customers returning for the warehouse store-like prices without the membership fees.
How Grocery Outlet Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
The main reason Grocery Outlet is able to sell groceries for cheap is due to its practice of opportunistic buying. They have a relationship with suppliers which allows them to buy items that may be nearing their sell-by date (but are not expired or unsafe), may have been discontinued (for instance, less-popular flavors of chips or crackers), or may even simply have packaging defects that don’t affect the quality of the contents.
What to Buy at Grocery Outlet
Inventory is always changing at the Grocery Outlet but they tend to carry most of the staple groceries so if you are alright with changing brands, damaged packaging, or discontinued items then this is a place to save on groceries.
See all the groceries and services that Grocery Outlet offers on its website.
Where You Can Find Grocery Outlet Stores
The Grocery Outlet stores are located in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Pennsylvania. See their store locator and map to find a grocery store near you.
5. Save A Lot
Save A Lot Food Stores Ltd. is an American discount supermarket chain headquartered in St. Ann, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis.
How Save A Lot Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
The primary ways Save A Lot keeps their groceries cheap include:
- They sell only the most commonly purchased variety and size items.
- They sell their own brands.
For example, Save-A-Lot’s communications manager said, “We carry one size and one variety of each item. If it’s a can of whole-kernel corn, it’s going to be one size and one variety — and it’s going to be the most popular size and variety.”
Where You Can Find Save A Lot Grocery Stores
Save A Lot Grocery stores can be found in 32 states all along the East, South, and Midwest United States, and Colorado. See their store locator and map to find a grocery store near you.
6. Lidl (Northeast & South-Atlantic)
Lidl tries to be an affordable, high-quality grocery store. They do a pretty good job at keeping their costs low with a majority of their products being their own brand.
How Lidl Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
The main ways that Lidl keeps their groceries cheaper than other stores include:
- Most of their products are private-label brands.
- They have a limited selection of products.
- They stock “fast-moving items.”
- Stores are relatively small.
- They keep labor costs low.
- They display products in the boxes they were shipped in.
- Spends very little on ads.
What to Buy at Lidl
- Plant-based foods
- Dairy products
- Snacks
- Meals
- Meats
- Cereals
- Cheeses
- Frozen foods
See all the groceries and services that Lidl offers on its website.
Where You Can Find Lidl Stores
Lidl grocery stores are located in Virginia, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. See their store locator and map to find a grocery store near you.
7. Food-4-Less (West Coast)
Food-4-Less is a grocery store chain that is owned by Kroger. It is considered a no-frills grocery store where the customers bag their own groceries at the checkout.
How Food-4-Less Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
Primarily, Food-4-Less can sell their groceries for cheaper because:
- Lower labor costs (customers bag their own groceries).
- They focus on high efficiency in a warehouse-style supermarket layout.
- They price-check competition weekly, adjusting prices accordingly.
What to Buy at Food-4-Less
- Produce
- Dairy products
- Breads
- Snacks
- Canned goods
- Boxed shelf-stable goods
- Frozen foods
- Organic goods
- International foods
- Seafood
- Beverages
See all the groceries and services that Food-4-Less offers on its website.
Where You Can Find Food-4-Less Grocery Stores
Food-4-Less grocery stores are located in California, Illinois, and Indiana. See all their store locations to find a grocery store near you.
8. Commissary Grocery Store
The commissary is run by the Defense commissary Agency and does not operate to make money. They sell most items “at cost.” They negotiate this cost with the various manufacturers and then pass that price on to the shopper.
Only families of those surviving in the military can shop at Commissary grocery stores. They offer a much cheaper way for military families to get groceries. See details on Commissary’s
9. Price Rite Marketplace
Similar to other limited-assortment chains, including Aldi and Save-A-Lot, Price Rite offers drastically fewer stock-keeping units than its sibling ShopRite stores, which are conventional supermarkets. Price Rite stores operate on the same principles as their competition; however, they are a bit bigger (averaging 35,000 sq ft) and concentrate on offering a larger “fresh food” selection.
How Price Rite Marketplace Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
A couple of ways that Price Rite keeps its cost of groceries low include:
- They have lower labor costs than traditional grocery stores.
- They require customers to bring their own bags or buy shopping bags.
- They carry over 500 items that are their own Price Right brand.
What to Buy at Price Rite
- Bread and baked goods
- Breakfast and cereals
- Dairy
- Deli and a variety of meats
- Frozen foods
- Prepared foods
- Canned goods
See more groceries and services that Price Rite offers on its website.
Where You Can Find Price Rite Market Grocery Stores
The Price Rite Marketplace supermarkets can be found in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Use their store locator and map to find a store near you.
10. H-E-B (Texas)
H-E-B began in 1905 in a small family-owned store in the Texas Hill Country. Today H-E-B serves families all over Texas and Mexico with more than 420 stores and over 145,000 Partners (employees).
How H-E-B Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
The main way that H-E-B keeps their cost of groceries cheaper than competitors is by focusing on local Texas grown/produced goods and cutting costs associated with shipping.
What to Buy at H-E-B
- Produce
- Meat
- Seafood
- Dairy
- Canned goods
- Baking ingredients
- Frozen foods
- Household items
See more groceries and services that H-E-B offers on its website.
Where You Can Find H-E-B Grocery Stores
H-E-B grocery stores are located throughout Texas. If you live in Texas see their store locator and map to find a grocery store near you.
11. Fareway Meat & Grocery (Midwest)
Fareway Stores is a grocery store chain based in Boone, Iowa. Fareway provides service and food distribution in the Midwest.
How Fareway Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
Fareway’s core values revolve around the way they treat their customers and employees. They put most of their focus on giving customers a sense of personalization, like if they are greeted by name or if the butcher knows they like a certain cut of meat.
What to Buy at Fareway
- Fresh meats and seafood
- Dairy items
- Produce
- Canned goods
- Shelf-stable dry ingredients
- Frozen foods
- Beer and wine
- Household items
See more groceries and services that Fareway offers on its website.
Where You Can Find Fareway Grocery Stores
Fareway operates 131 grocery store locations in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, and Missouri. Use their store locator and map to find a store near you.
12. Costco Wholesale
Costco is a membership warehouse club, dedicated to bringing our members the best possible prices on quality brand-name merchandise. With hundreds of locations worldwide, Costco provides a wide selection of merchandise, plus the convenience of specialty departments and exclusive member services, all designed to make your shopping experience a pleasurable one.
How Costco Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
Below are the main ways that Costco is able to keep their groceries cheaper than competitors, including:
- They charge a membership fee of either $60 or $120.
- They spend less on marketing and advertising.
- They don’t have employees unpack bulk foods.
- They run on a lean, efficient inventory model.
- Able to maintain a loyal customer base.
- They sell a lot of Kirkland brand products.
- They have a major loss prevention focus.
What to Buy at Costco
- Rotisserie chicken
- Snacks
- Dairy
- Meat
- Organic goods
- Dry goods
- Oils
- Bakery items
- Toilet paper
- Gas
- Tires
- Laundry Detergent
See more groceries and services that Costco offers on its website. I find a Costco membership worth it and enjoy that I can order items online and have them sent to my home.
Where You Can Find Costco Stores
Costco has over 500 store locations in 48 states around America. To find the nearest Costco location near you see their map and store locator tool.
13. Walmart
Walmart is the world’s largest retailer. Well known for its massive stores, large selections, and most of all, low (rollback) prices. Their widely recognized brand of Great Value is often the cheapest product you can find in any grocery store.
How Walmart Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
The main ways that Walmart keeps its groceries and goods cheaper than others include:
- They maintain low operating costs through a sophisticated and largely automated supply-chain management system.
- Because they are the world’s largest retailer they have large bargaining power with their suppliers.
- They have a huge volume of sales.
- They reportedly have an aggressive shoplifting program.
- They have their own shipping system and truck drivers.
What to Buy at Walmart
- Produce
- Bakery items
- Meat and Seafood
- Snacks
- Peanut butter
- Dairy
- Baking items
- Breakfast items
- Coffee
See more groceries and services that Walmart offers on its website. Walmart is hard to avoid because of low prices not only of groceries but of the widest range of goods in any retailer. Also, ordering things online and grocery pickup at Walmart is very convenient for my family.
Where You Can Find Walmart Stores
Walmart has over 4,500 store locations in every state in America. To find a Walmart grocery store location near you use either their map locator tool or their store directory.
14. Trader Joe’s
Shopping at Trader Joe’s is like combining a convenience store, a produce stand, and an international market into one nautical-themed grocery store.
How Trader Joe’s Keeps Cost of Groceries Low
Here are a couple of ways that Trader Joe’s keeps its grocery items cheaper.
- A large portion of items in the store is their own brand.
- They cut supplier shelving fees which allow vendors to provide their merchandise at a discount.
What to Buy at Trader Joe’s
- Baked goods
- Cheeses
- Dairy and Eggs
- Dips, sauces, and dressings
- Prepared foods
- Frozen foods
- Fresh fruits and Vegetables
- Meats
- Pantry staples
- Snacks and sweets
See more groceries and services that Trader Joe’s offers on its website.
Where You Can Find Trader Joe’s Stores
Trader Joe’s operates over 500 grocery store locations in 43 different states around America. Use their store locator and directory to find a store near you.