Are prices lower in stores compared to a year ago?

Short answer: No. On average, U.S. consumer prices were about 3.4% higher in August 2026 than in August 2025, the latest data available.[1]

If you mean grocery-store prices specifically, they were flat month over month in August but still up 2.2% versus a year earlier.[1]

Some store categories did fall year over year—for example, used cars and trucks (−2.3%), dairy (−0.3%), and prescription drugs (about −2.9%). But most categories are still higher than last year.[1]

If you had a specific type of store or product in mind (e.g., groceries, electronics, apparel), I can pull the latest figures for that category.