Egg prices in the U.S. have been on a steady climb and may continue to rise. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), egg prices are expected to go up by 20.3% by the end of 2025. This follows an 8.4% rise in retail egg prices in December 2024 alone.
The Trump administration is blaming the spike in prices on the bird flu outbreak that started in 2022, which caused the deaths of over 20 million egg-laying chickens in the U.S. by the end of 2024. Retail prices were also 36.8% higher in December 2024 compared to the same month the year before, according to the Consumer Price Index. A dozen large, Grade-A eggs averaged $4.16 in December, up from $3.60 in November and $3.37 in October of that year.
“Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re in this for a while,” said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board. “Until we have time without a detection, unfortunately, this very, very tight egg supply is going to continue.”
The bird flu outbreak that began in February 2022 has led to the culling of over 111 million birds, mostly egg-layers. The virus spreads quickly, and when it’s detected, all birds on the affected farm are killed to prevent it from spreading further.
California, hit hard by the outbreak, has been facing particular shortages of cage-free eggs. Along with California, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon all have laws requiring eggs sold within their borders to be cage-free. Because of the tight supply, eggs are being moved from other parts of the country to meet demand in these states.
“We’re having to move eggs from other areas of the country that are producing cage-free to cover that low supply in those states because those states only allow for cage-free eggs to be sold,” Metz said.
The rising cost of eggs isn’t just due to the bird flu, though. The overall inflation in the U.S. economy has also played a part. The USDA predicts that grocery prices will go up by 1.3% in 2025, and food prices in general are expected to increase by 2.2%.
Egg prices even became a topic of political debate during the 2024 presidential race. Then-President Donald Trump blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for the price hikes, claiming eggs were $5 a dozen under her watch.
His remarks came after his running mate, now-Vice President JD Vance, spoke in Pennsylvania, where he argued that eggs once cost $1.50 a dozen under Harris, but had now risen to around $4 due to inflation caused by her policies. Vance also said Pennsylvania had seen some of the worst grocery price hikes in the nation.
In interviews and speeches, Trump also said he was focused on reducing grocery prices. In his December interview with Time magazine, when he was named “Person of the Year,” he acknowledged that lowering prices wouldn’t be easy. “I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard. But I think that they will,” he said. “I think that energy is going to bring them down. I think a better supply chain is going to bring them down.”
Trump reiterated his goal to lower grocery costs during his inauguration on January 20, 2025, stating, “I will direct all members of my Cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices.”
