US average price for a pound of butter: $3.96/lb for September 2026 (BLS, the public shelf-price survey behind the official CPI, published monthly with the CPI), -17.3% vs a year ago. The freshest public line is Nowflation's index of USDA-reported advertised prices for dairy and related products (the whole category, not butter alone): 144.2 for September 2026, a monthly index built from USDA's weekly grocery feature reports (+2.9% against the same weeks last year). Next BLS update: November 10, 2026, with the October 2026 CPI.
Retail butter prices fell 17.3% over the past year to $3.96/lb (September 2026), and the price is +11% versus five years ago, and 21% below the highest reading since this series began in April 2018, $5.00/lb in September 2024. Upstream, the price dairy farmers receive for milk is -5.3% year over year ($19.80/cwt, August 2026) — when the farm-gate or futures price moves, the shelf follows with a lag of weeks to months, and the spread between them is the middle of the supply chain. The freshest read, Nowflation's index of USDA-reported advertised prices for dairy and related products (the whole category, not butter alone), fell 2.4% from August 2026 to September 2026 and sits +2.9% against the same weeks last year.
This page charts the full history of the BLS price back to 2018; Nowflation's index of USDA-reported advertised prices for dairy and related products (the whole category, not butter alone); and upstream, the price dairy farmers receive for milk and the Class III milk futures price. The Build-Your-Cart tool combines these staples into your personal basket, the farm-to-shelf page shows where the retail dollar goes, and the full price history is downloadable as JSON and CSV from the series page.
The US city average is $3.96/lb for September 2026, from the BLS Average Price survey — the shelf prices behind the CPI — -17.3% from a year earlier. The fresher line is Nowflation's index of USDA-reported advertised prices for dairy and related products (the whole category, not butter alone): 144.2 for September 2026, a monthly index built from USDA's weekly grocery feature reports (+2.9% against the same weeks last year). The BLS figure is monthly, so "today" on this page means the latest published month, not this morning.
Retail butter prices fell 17.3% over the past year to $3.96/lb (September 2026), and the price is +11% versus five years ago, and 21% below the highest reading since this series began in April 2018, $5.00/lb in September 2024. Upstream, the price dairy farmers receive for milk is -5.3% year over year ($19.80/cwt, August 2026) — when the farm-gate or futures price moves, the shelf follows with a lag of weeks to months, and the spread between them is the middle of the supply chain. The freshest read, Nowflation's index of USDA-reported advertised prices for dairy and related products (the whole category, not butter alone), fell 2.4% from August 2026 to September 2026 and sits +2.9% against the same weeks last year.
BLS average prices for October 2026 publish with the CPI on November 10, 2026 at 8:30 AM Eastern. The advertised-price index adds a month once the month has ended and USDA's weekly feature reports for it are in; this page republishes every morning with whatever is newest.
BLS; USDA NASS for the price dairy farmers receive for milk; USDA AMS weekly grocery feature reports (MyMarketNews), from which Nowflation builds the advertised-price index. Every series is charted with its full history on this page and listed with its source in the open data directory; the public-data series also download there.