Families celebrating the Fourth of July holiday with a cookout will find prices at the grocery store closely reflect inflation increases over the last year. An Independence Day cookout will cost $73.82 for 10 guests this year, according to the 2026 American Farm Bureau Federation annual marketbasket survey.
This is up $2.90 from last year, which is a 4% increase. The overall annual inflation rate in the United States is 4.2% for 12 months ending in May, which is consistent with the findings of the marketbasket survey, even though the survey tracks a much smaller basket of items.
At $7.38 per person, this is the most expensive Fourth of July cookout since Farm Bureau began surveying costs in 2016. However, after adjusting for inflation, cookout costs have remained relatively stable in recent years and remain below the previous peak reached in 2022.
More information on the survey results, plus a Market Intel economic report, is available at FB.org/4thofJuly.