This year’s average Fourth of July cookout is likely to be the most expensive in a decade, but Hoosiers might be getting off light, according to a national survey.
It will cost $73.82 to feed 10 guests, according to the 2026 American Farm Bureau Federation annual market survey. That’s up 4% from 2025, the agricultural industry lobbying group said.
The $7.38 per-person meal is the most expensive since the organization began tracking costs in 2016.
The data comes from early-June 2026 grocery store prices scouted by volunteers across the country. Shoppers exclude special promotional coupons and purchase deals.
The shopping group priced ground beef, cheese, hamburger buns, pork chops, chicken breasts, pork and beans, potato salad, strawberries, chips, ice cream, cookies and lemonade.
Helping drive up the cost of this year’s meal was a 5% increase in the retail price for two pounds of ground beef.
A couple of items on the list cost less this year than they did in the 2025 summer survey.
A decrease in egg prices – after flocks recovered from avian influenza – and healthy potato harvests helped the cost of potato salad fall 17.8%. Potato chips also were down 4 cents from 2025 to $4.76.
Indiana cookout food costs down
The average cost for a summer cookout featuring those same items decreased slightly for Indiana shoppers since last year.
Hoosiers will spend an average of $66.73, or about $6.67 per person, for the cookout feeding 10 from that same menu; about 7% less than spent in 2025 and 10% less than the national average.
Indiana shoppers found lower prices this year for ground beef and pork chops, according to the Indiana Farm Bureau.
Indiana Farm Bureau Chief Economist Todd Davis noted the data is “just a snapshot of what consumers are paying at the grocery store on any given day.”
About 88.2 cents of every retail food dollar goes to food processing, packaging, transportation, wholesale and retail distribution, while the remainder goes to farmers, the Indiana group said.
“Farmers are price takers, not price makers – just like consumers,” said Randy Kron, Indiana Farm Bureau president. “Margins are still tight for farmers due to high supply costs because the amount farmers are being paid isn’t covering that increase in expenses.”
Food costs for Fourth of July cookout 2026
Source: American Farm Bureau Federation, Indiana Farm Bureau
Contact reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cjackson@usatodayco.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com: @cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fourth of July cookout food prices hit a record high. Indiana costs lower
Reporting by Cheryl V. Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cheryl V. Jackson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
