Egg Prices Soar to New Record Amid Ongoing Bird Flu Crisis
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Updated Feb. 12.
The national average price of eggs hit a new all-time high in January, soaring more than 15% in a single month to $4.95 for a dozen large Grade A eggs, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Prices vary by region and type, so shoppers have seen a wide range of price points during recent shopping trips — many much higher than this. But the average figure recorded by BLS demonstrates how much worse the situation has gotten in recent months, since it surpasses the previous egg price peak recorded in January 2023 at $4.82 per dozen.
For more than two 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 53% in one year
The average cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs was $4.95 in January, up from $4.15 in December, 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 53% from where it was a year ago. That’s in contrast to the trajectory of food prices overall, which rose just 2.5% 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 Feb. 11, the virus has affected about 157.77 million birds in the U.S. since January 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More specifically, it has affected about 122.2 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.
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.
Since October, when the latest spate of outbreaks began, reports of bird flu have spanned 10 states — including Arizona, California, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah and Washington — and affected nearly 45 million egg-laying hens. There are about 303.4 million egg-laying hens in the U.S. population, according to the USDA. That means, in just four months, producers have lost what amounts to roughly 15% of the total U.S. egg-layer population.
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.
