Here's What A Dozen Eggs Cost In The 1970s Compared To Today

Anyone who's been to the grocery store will tell you that the price of eggs has been anything but stable since the pandemic ended. Going by data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), from 2022 to 2025, the average price of grade A large dozen eggs has gone up 60%, if you calculate the difference between the 2022 annual average and the 2025 average from January to September. In fact, in March 2025, the price of a dozen eggs reached an all-time high of $6.23 per dozen. However, it lowered to around $3.49 in September of 2025.

These high egg costs can be traced primarily to waves of HPAI (H5N1 bird flu) causing supply shocks, with the USDA APHIS recording nearly 170 million affected birds since 2022, according to a 2025 Congress report. That means fewer eggs and higher costs. The last time the U.S. had such a sustained, broad, inflation shock that visibly hit grocery staples like this was in the 1970s, and that was caused by general inflation and feed shortages rather than disease. 

Going by the USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) report, a dozen eggs cost $0.77 in 1975, $0.85 in 1976, $0.82 in 1977, $0.79 in 1978, and $0.86 in 1979. That's about $0.82 on average, and if we adjust that number for inflation since June 1977, using the BLS CPI Inflation Calculator, that translates to $4.39 in today's purchasing power — which is about a dollar lower than what you can get in September 2025.

To properly understand the back and forth of 2025 egg prices, you have to compare things in a broader 10-year scope. Looking back, as early as 2015, there were serious bird flu outbreaks that cut layer supply, causing prices in May to December of that year to run 61% higher than the previous year, according to the USDA. However, between 2016 and 2019, prices drifted back toward pre-outbreak levels, which were generally around $1.20 to $1.80.

When the pandemic hit, it introduced some market volatility, but nothing too crazy. Demand swings and supply chain hiccups took prices up into the $1.50 to $2 territory at times. The real problems started when bird flu came again in 2022, and combined with the post-pandemic lag to cause retail prices to climb sharply as flock losses kept mounting. This led to one of the highest retail months on record in January 2023 at $4.82 until prices cooled as the year progressed.

Waves of HN51 avian flu came back toward the holiday period in 2024, even causing Thanksgiving turkey prices to rise. Wholesale prices for eggs also hit records in December, and retail prices exceeded $3.60 as early as November, according to findings from Reuters. The trend followed into the new year, and egg prices consistently set new records, forcing restaurants like Denny's to add egg surcharges to their food. It peaked in March 2025, and then started a sharp decline that has gone on till September 2025.