Are prices lower in stores compared to a year ago?

Short Answer: No, overall prices are not lower than a year ago — but it's a mixed picture depending on what you're buying.

Overall Inflation Trend

In the U.S., the annual inflation rate steadied at 3.4% in August 2026, and more recent nowcasts put year-over-year CPI around 3.6% for September/October 2026. This means prices overall are still rising — just at a slower pace than the inflation spikes seen earlier in the decade.

Groceries: A Mixed Bag

For grocery/food-at-home prices specifically: the U.S. food-at-home price index was unchanged in August 2026 and stood 2.2% above its August 2025 level, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As one analysis put it, grocery prices are rising more slowly, but groceries are not getting cheaper overall — an inflation rate of 2.2% means prices are increasing more slowly... It does not mean the earlier increases have been erased.

What's actually cheaper than a year ago:

What's more expensive:

The Bottom Line

Shoppers often feel like prices haven't budged because they pay today's prices, which include increases accumulated over several years — even a "cooling" inflation rate still means prices are higher than before, just rising more slowly. So while a handful of grocery items (notably eggs) are genuinely cheaper than last year, your overall shopping basket is still costing more than it did 12 months ago, both for groceries specifically and for retail prices broadly.