After Setting Records in February, Egg Prices Look Poised to Fall

For more than three years, farmers have fought a battle with a fatal strain of bird flu that continues to disrupt the U.S. egg supply. Since October, continual large-scale outbreaks of the virus across multiple states have taken a massive toll on the U.S. flock of egg-laying hens. With limited supplies, shoppers are encountering skyrocketing prices, buying restrictions, empty store shelves and restaurant surcharges on eggs.

Egg prices rose roughly 59% in one year

The average cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs was $5.90 in February, up from $4.95 in January, according to data from the BLS, retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ FRED site.

The latest consumer price index, or CPI, shows that the price of eggs is up 10.4% from where it was a month ago and 58.8% from this time last year. That’s in contrast to the trajectory of food prices overall, which rose just 2.6% in the past year.

» MORE: Will prices ever go down?

BLS data tracking egg prices goes back to at least 1980, when large, Grade A eggs cost $0.88 a dozen, not adjusted for inflation. Before February 2022, the average cost of a dozen had largely stayed below $2 since March 2016. Then, the price of eggs more than doubled from the beginning of 2022 until hitting a peak of $4.82 per dozen in January 2023. Prices largely fell until September 2023 before returning to a steady climb. A new price record was set in January 2025 at $4.95 per dozen.

Why are eggs so expensive?

The pandemic and inflation play a role in rising egg prices, but the real culprit is an outbreak of H5N1, a highly transmissible and fatal strain of avian influenza, or bird flu. The outbreak started in early 2022 and quickly grew into the largest bird flu outbreak in U.S. history. As of March 20, the virus has affected about 168.2 million birds in the U.S. since February 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More specifically, it has affected about 131.8 million egg-laying hens, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. When an outbreak occurs, egg producers are forced to cull their flocks, per USDA policy, which impacts the supply of eggs headed for grocery stores.

Generally, as supplies tighten, egg prices rise. That’s for at least two reasons: First, consumer demand for eggs has held steady despite persistently high prices. The mismatch between supply and demand tends to drive prices up.

Second, the tight supply of eggs has led grocery stores to change the way they price eggs altogether. Previously, it was common for retailers to keep egg prices low — sometimes even pricing them below what the store paid for them wholesale — because eggs effectively draw shoppers into the store. They’d come for cheap eggs and leave with a cart full of groceries.

But now, pricing eggs too low could mean selling out, which would increase the chances that shoppers encounter empty shelves and abandon their carts. Retailers will keep prices at levels that help them avoid that situation as much as possible.

DOJ to investigate corporate price fixing

The Department of Justice has launched an investigation into large egg producers’ pricing practices, the Wall Street Journal reported March 7. The DOJ will be looking into whether these producers conspired to set high prices or limit the supply of eggs.

As egg prices reached new heights at the beginning of 2025, long-simmering concerns about corporations’ role in setting prices grew louder. Advocacy groups and members of Congress publicly called on the new administration to investigate food companies for high prices, citing a significant jump in profits reported in January by Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the U.S.

At the time the company’s earnings were released, Cal-Maine’s CEO said the bump was because of elevated prices. “Translation: the egg company and its shareholders are making higher profits while Americans shell out more for grocery staples,” states a Jan. 26 letter addressed to Trump from a group of Democrats led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Representatives for the egg industry have continually pushed back on claims that egg companies can control prices.

Recently, Emily Metz, CEO of the American Egg Board, told PBS News, “I can't speak to why the Justice Department is doing what they're doing, but I can speak to the facts, and the facts are very simple. The price of eggs are set on the commodity market.”

When will egg prices settle down?

Prices will remain volatile until producers can rebuild their flocks and recover egg production levels. But that’s hard to do when the virus remains out of control. Major U.S. egg producers continue to report new bird flu cases affecting flocks around the country.

So far in 2025, nearly 33 million egg-laying hens have been affected by H5N1. For comparison, roughly 40 million egg layers were impacted in all of 2024, most of which occurred at the end of the year. Since October, when the latest spate of outbreaks began, reports of bird flu have spanned 10 states and affected more than 54 million egg-laying hens.

But cases appear to be slowing for the moment. In February, about 11.4 million egg layers were affected by the virus. That’s down from more than 19.5 million in January — the worst month since outbreaks began in February 2022, according to a NerdWallet analysis of USDA data.

The total U.S. egg-laying population continues to decline. In February, the number of hens laying table eggs was estimated at 291.5 million, according to the USDA. That’s down from about 303.4 million in January. In previous years, the population more typically numbered some 320 million.

Why you might be seeing cage-free egg shortages

In 2025, eight states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon and Washington — have laws in place that ban the production and sale of conventional eggs for animal welfare reasons. National retailers like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have made similar commitments.

Many of those states recently experienced major outbreaks of bird flu. In fact, bird flu had a disproportionate impact on cage-free egg layers in 2024. About a third of U.S. egg layers are cage-free hens, but they contributed nearly 60% of all bird flu cases for the year.

Not only does that mean the supply of cage-free eggs is down everywhere — which, as explained above, leads to higher prices — but it also has implications for how quickly supplies can recover, which are unique to cage-free eggs.

Already there are fewer sources for cage-free eggs. On top of that, in places where cage-free egg rules are in place, it can be tricky for retailers to find new suppliers that comply with whatever regulations the stores are required to follow.

As a result, grocery shoppers living in states or shopping in stores that restrict the sale of conventional eggs are especially likely to face higher prices, quantity restrictions and temporary egg shortages.

What’s Trump doing to bring down egg prices?

In addition to launching a DOJ investigation into egg pricing practices, the Trump administration plans to spend $1 billion to combat bird flu and, ultimately, bring down prices, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on Feb. 26.

Most of the funds would go toward providing additional relief to farmers affected by outbreaks and expanding an existing biosecurity program to improve safety measures at egg-laying facilities across the country. Some money (about $100 million) would be used to research a vaccine, cut regulations and explore egg import options.

The announcement hinted that the USDA will seek to roll back state rules that contribute to drastic price differences across the country. The USDA also wants to temporarily increase imports and decrease exports to bolster the domestic supply of eggs.