Average Price Data, AP (APU0000715211) · Sugar, white, all sizes, per lb. (453.6 gm), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted

What does a pound of sugar cost in the US?

The average price of a pound of white sugar was $1.001 in the month ended .

Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, each month

January 1980 to October 2026Not seasonally adjusted, as published

Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, each month (January 1980 to October 2026), recessions shaded
Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, each month (October 2016 to October 2026), recessions shaded
Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, each month (October 2024 to October 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 1980 to October 2026Ours, from the published values

Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 1980 to October 2026), recessions shaded
Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (October 2016 to October 2026), recessions shaded
Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (October 2024 to October 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. Every month since January 1980 is in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average: the newest month beside earlier ones
MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average$1.001$1.019$1.042$0.713$0.630
Change over a yearn/a−2.2%+3.5%+12.5%−4.8%

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Observed .

Right now

The average price of a pound of white sugar was $1.001 in October 2026, the lowest since March 2026.

See every month since 1980

ChangeOurs

The average price of a pound of white sugar at the start of each period, and the change since then (ours)
PeriodThenChange
One month$1.019 in −1.8%
Three months$1.024 in −2.2%
Twelve monthsNo value for
Five years$0.713 in +40.4%
Ten years$0.630 in +58.9%

In historyOurs

The average price of a pound of white sugar of $1.001 in was higher than in 536 of the 560 other months since , the same in 1 and lower in 23.

Highest since : $1.054 in . Lowest since : $0.273 in .

AverageOurs

Average since : $0.5307 (ours, a plain mean of the 561 months).

Understanding the average price of a pound of white sugar

Where it stands today

The average price of a pound of white sugar was $1.001 in October 2026.

What does the average price of a pound of white sugar measure?

This is the average price of a pound of white sugar in the United States: a series of the average price data of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), for the U.S. city average and not seasonally adjusted. BLS publishes it each month, with the Consumer Price Index, in dollars to three decimals.

Read more

BLS names the item "Sugar, white, all sizes, per lb. (453.6 gm)" and the series APU0000715211.

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest price since the series begins, how the change over a year ranks among the items in its group on the average prices page, and every month of the series in a table by year.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the average price of a pound of white sugar in each month?One row for each year since 1980, newest first

Each row is a year and each column a month. A dash is a month with no price: before the series began, after its newest month, or a month BLS published no price for (the limits name those). The highest and lowest prices of the whole series are in bold.

Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, by month and year, newest year first (US dollars per pound; the highest and lowest prices in bold)
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20261.0221.0160.9961.0061.0341.0181.0241.0241.0191.001––
20251.0111.0121.0141.0211.054 (highest price)1.054 (highest price)1.0461.0401.042–0.9910.985
20240.9750.9840.9841.0061.0011.0041.0041.0041.0071.0031.0000.992
20230.8600.8760.8800.8930.8990.9180.9320.9500.9710.9630.9580.956
20220.7060.7180.7390.7400.7450.7650.7910.8210.8370.8460.8460.844
20210.6820.6800.6750.6750.6750.6750.6860.6810.6880.7130.6870.691
20200.6030.6120.6210.6400.6470.6260.6270.6290.6300.6340.6600.674
20190.5950.5920.5960.5910.5800.5860.5890.5890.5960.5890.5890.589
20180.6230.6220.6120.6170.6280.6290.6300.6280.6290.6020.6020.573
20170.6320.6370.6310.6280.6470.6590.6590.6580.6700.6640.6400.646
Show 37 more rows
Average price of a pound of white sugar, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, by month and year, newest year first (US dollars per pound; the highest and lowest prices in bold) (continued)
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
20160.6620.6480.6320.6550.6510.6410.6460.6530.6530.6300.6180.614
20150.6440.6590.6600.6630.6600.6460.6560.6540.6560.6620.6410.642
20140.6280.6150.6040.5990.6070.6100.5960.5990.6080.6160.6120.614
20130.6830.6680.6500.6560.6640.6440.6410.6440.6330.6280.6150.592
20120.7170.7140.7110.7040.6960.6840.6920.6850.6850.6800.6790.682
20110.6520.6600.6640.6640.6750.6840.6890.7010.7020.7040.6980.703
20100.6130.6340.6360.6370.6350.6230.6220.6040.6300.6220.6440.643
20090.5690.5690.5710.5680.5610.5620.5560.5560.5800.5790.5770.596
20080.5190.5130.5040.5170.5210.5250.5250.5350.5630.5640.5280.534
20070.5190.5140.5180.5080.5130.5210.5220.5180.5180.5130.5100.503
20060.4610.4680.4710.4800.4990.5040.5050.5160.5150.5120.5130.506
20050.4370.4350.4330.4360.4270.4280.4240.4320.4370.4420.4450.449
20040.4290.4260.4260.4270.4250.4250.4290.4260.4260.4260.4220.430
20030.4300.4270.4270.4270.4310.4290.4310.4350.4260.4250.4110.422
20020.4410.4370.4260.4440.4270.4300.4330.4330.4370.4240.4190.421
20010.4280.4350.4370.4290.4380.4350.4430.4330.4420.4400.4250.425
20000.4370.4320.4290.4140.4240.4280.4250.4240.4240.4250.4130.414
19990.4360.4300.4370.4320.4360.4310.4320.4310.4370.4380.4260.426
19980.4300.4290.4330.4310.4280.4310.4320.4360.4320.4230.4250.427
19970.4340.4290.4310.4350.4340.4360.4330.4360.4360.4300.4290.428
19960.4050.4030.4060.4040.4150.4180.4240.4280.4260.4320.4260.428
19950.3970.3990.3980.3940.3970.3950.3970.3960.3980.4040.4070.398
19940.4070.4050.4010.3990.4010.3970.4000.3970.4030.4020.3950.392
19930.4120.4100.4060.4080.4080.4030.4020.4060.4040.4050.4030.398
19920.4250.4240.4190.4170.4170.4150.4160.4110.4100.4120.4120.406
19910.4340.4300.4340.4330.4310.4320.4350.4280.4220.4200.4190.418
19900.4180.4190.4270.4280.4300.4270.4270.4330.4340.4320.4290.429
19890.3890.3920.3990.3990.3990.3980.4020.4030.4050.4070.4040.406
19880.3580.3570.3570.3550.3560.3570.3610.3700.3760.3800.3810.384
19870.3520.3490.3490.3450.3530.3510.3490.3550.3590.3590.3570.356
19860.3520.3530.3540.3540.3550.3530.3480.3480.3490.3470.3490.348
19850.3590.3600.3580.3560.3540.3460.3520.3540.3540.3510.3500.347
19840.3640.3640.3660.3660.3670.3650.3580.3580.3640.3650.3620.360
19830.3600.3550.3570.3580.3550.3590.3650.3650.3650.3650.3670.370
19820.3270.3390.3430.3380.3350.3410.3480.3520.3560.3550.3550.352
19810.5380.5230.4910.4460.3950.3690.3550.3510.3460.3350.3270.325
19800.273 (lowest price)0.3010.3550.3680.3800.4300.4650.4620.4770.5030.5500.565

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • The price is an average of the retail prices that BLS collects from a sample of sellers, for the U.S. city average. It is not a price index. BLS measures the change of prices with the Consumer Price Index, and the change over a year on this page, worked out from the averages, can differ from the change of the index.
  • BLS did not collect prices for October 2025 because of the lapse in appropriations, so the page has no price for that month and the chart shows a gap.
  • The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest prices are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes. A change is in percent.
  • BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, Sugar, white, all sizes, per lb. (453.6 gm), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, through October 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What does a pound of sugar cost in the US?", https://500metrics.com/average-prices/sugar.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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