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# GRAPHIC: Chicken prices continue to rise, costing U.S. consumers more each year
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/graphic-chicken-prices-continue-to-rise-costing-u-s-consumers-more-each-year/
- Published: 2023-10-12T15:28:47.000Z
- Updated: 2023-10-12T15:28:47.000Z
- Description: Once an alternative to beef, chicken has become the country’s most popular meat choice.
- Author: John McCracken, Investigate Midwest
- Tags: Data Harvest, chicken, Department of Labor, TP::Explainer, USDA, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

The price of chicken products on grocery store shelves continues to rise, even as major producers [close plants across the country](https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/record-chicken-prices-squeeze-us-shoppers-benefit-tyson-foods-2023-10-05/?ref=investigatemidwest.org).  
  
The cost-per-pound of a whole chicken has increased by roughly 34% from August 2021 to August 2023, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. This translates to an additional 50 cents per pound.  
  
The rising cost of chicken is not limited to whole products, as bone-in legs and boneless chicken breasts are seeing similar increases in average price per pound. This price increase comes after a sharp decline seen at the end of last year.

U.S. consumers are eating more and more chicken, and the bird has surpassed beef as the country’s most consumed protein, according to the USDA. In the U.S., Tyson Foods is the largest processor of chicken products and controls 25% of the market.