For American coffee drinkers, one of the most familiar items in the grocery aisle has become considerably more expensive.

The average U.S. retail price of 100% ground roasted coffee reached $9.317 per pound in July 2026, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Rounded to the nearest cent, that puts the average at $9.32 per pound.

That was 10.7% higher than the $8.414 average recorded in July 2025, although prices eased somewhat from June 2026, when the average reached $9.457 per pound. The July figure was 1.5% lower than the previous month.

The numbers underline how coffee has remained an unusually expensive part of the grocery basket even as price growth for many other foods has been more moderate.

The headline figure comes from the BLS average-price series for 100% ground roast coffee, all sizes, measured per pound, or 453.6 grams. The agency defines the series more narrowly than the everyday word "coffee" might suggest. It covers regular-caffeine ground coffee sold in cans or plastic containers, regardless of package size.

It therefore should not be interpreted as the average price of every form of coffee sold in the United States. It does not represent the price of a cup purchased at a coffee shop, nor is it a broad average encompassing every whole-bean, instant, capsule, specialty, or prepared coffee product.

BLS calculates food average prices using observations collected for the Consumer Price Index. Individual retail prices are converted to a common unit, such as a price per ounce, before eligible observations are combined into a weighted average and expressed in a standard unit such as a pound. Food average prices are published without sales tax.

The agency also cautions that its CPI sample is designed primarily to measure changes in prices, rather than average price levels. Average-price estimates use a subset of CPI observations and are subject to sampling and collection error.

The increase in coffee prices stands out when compared with the broader grocery market.

BLS reported that the food-at-home CPI increased 2.7% during the 12 months ending in July 2026. The overall food index, which also includes food purchased away from home, rose 3.0%.

Coffee moved substantially faster. The CPI for coffee was 10.3% higher than a year earlier, while the more specific roasted-coffee index rose 9.4%.

Those percentages are not the same measurement as the 10.7% increase in the BLS average retail price. The distinction matters.

The CPI is designed to measure how consumer prices change over time while accounting for the structure of the consumer market. The average-price series instead estimates the actual dollar price paid for a narrowly defined product. BLS explicitly treats the two datasets as serving different purposes.

In practical terms, $9.32 describes a price level, while the coffee CPI describes the rate at which prices have changed.

July did provide some relief compared with the previous month.

The average retail price declined from $9.457 per pound in June to $9.317 in July, a decrease of 1.5%.

The CPI data tell a similar short-term story. The overall coffee index decreased 0.1% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the roasted-coffee index fell 0.4%.

That monthly decline, however, was not enough to erase the much larger increase accumulated over the previous year. July's retail average remained more than 10% above its level in July 2025.

Coffee's performance also contrasted with grocery prices overall. Food-at-home prices declined 0.1% in July, even as the broader nonalcoholic-beverages category increased 0.9%.

The elevated prices appearing in U.S. stores follow a period of exceptionally strong coffee commodity prices.

The World Bank reported in July 2026 that Arabica coffee prices had surged more than 40% in 2025. The institution projected global coffee production to reach 177.5 million 60-kilogram bags during the 2025 to 2026 season, nearly 2% higher than the prior season and the third straight year of production growth.

Improving supply prospects have since brought international prices down. According to the World Bank, Arabica prices declined nearly 7% between the first and second quarters of 2026 and stood 17% below their year-earlier level. Robusta prices fell 9% during the quarter and were 25% lower than a year earlier.

The International Coffee Organization has reported a similar cooling in the green-coffee market. Its Composite Indicator Price averaged 248.90 U.S. cents per pound in June 2026, down 2.8% from May.

These commodity prices should not be compared directly with the BLS retail figure of $9.32. The ICO indicator measures international green-coffee market prices, while the BLS figure reflects finished ground coffee sold to U.S. consumers. Roasting, processing, packaging, transportation, distribution, retail operations and other costs separate the raw commodity market from the final grocery-store price.

There are indications that global coffee production could continue to recover.

The World Bank expects Arabica prices to decline 14% in 2026 after their sharp rise in 2025, while Robusta prices are forecast to fall 18%. These are forecasts for international commodity prices, not predictions for U.S. grocery-store coffee prices.

Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, is particularly important to the outlook. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service data show Brazil accounted for about 35% of global coffee production in the 2025 to 2026 marketing year, with output of roughly 63 million 60-kilogram bags. Vietnam, the next-largest producer, accounted for about 18%.

The World Bank nevertheless cautions that the coffee outlook remains exposed to weather risks. Heavy rainfall in Brazil could affect crops through disease, while a stronger-than-expected El Niño could disrupt production and tighten global supplies again.

The latest BLS figures present a mixed picture for consumers.

On one hand, the average price of ground roasted coffee fell in July after reaching $9.46 per pound in June, and international coffee commodity prices have been retreating as global production prospects improve.

On the other, the typical retail price measured by BLS remains $9.32 per pound and 10.7% higher than it was a year earlier. Coffee prices are also rising considerably faster over the year than the broader cost of groceries.

For consumers, that makes coffee a clear example of how individual grocery prices can follow very different paths from overall food inflation. Even as international coffee markets show signs of cooling, the latest official U.S. retail data show that ground coffee remains substantially more expensive than it was just one year ago.