How Much Does Bacon Cost?

Updated on August 22, 2026 | Written by Alec Pow
This article was researched using 9 sources. See our methodology and corrections policy.

Bacon costs about $6.58 per pound on average in the U.S. as of July 2026, based on the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics sliced-bacon price data. Current store-brand raw bacon can cost around $4.40 to $4.60 per pound, mainstream national brands can run roughly $7 to $10 per pound, and small-batch artisan bacon commonly reaches $13 to $15 per pound or more.

The package price can be deceptive because bacon is sold in 8-ounce, 12-ounce, 16-ounce, 22-ounce, 24-ounce, and multi-pound packs. A $7.28 12-ounce package costs $9.71 per pound, while a $8.48 16-ounce package of the same Oscar Mayer original bacon works out to only $8.48 per pound.

Raw sliced bacon, fully cooked bacon, organic bacon, dry-cured artisan bacon, and bulk warehouse packs also belong in different price comparisons. The useful number is the unit price for a comparable product, not whichever package has the lowest sticker price.

Article Highlights

• The July 2026 U.S. average for sliced uncooked bacon was $6.584 per pound.
• Current store-brand one-pound packs can sit near $4.39 to $4.54.
• A 12-ounce national-brand package at $7.28 can equal $9.71 per pound.
• Costco Same-Day currently lists four one-pound Kirkland packs for $19.28 (at $30 per hour, earning that amount would take about 39 minutes, before taxes), or about $4.82 per pound.
• Small-batch smoked bacon currently sells around $13 to $15 per pound at one specialty butcher.
• Fully cooked bacon can exceed $25 per pound by package weight, but it should not be compared directly with raw bacon because cooking removes water and rendered fat.

How Much Does Bacon Cost?

The best national benchmark is the Bureau of Labor Statistics average-price series for prepackaged uncooked sliced pork bacon. The latest BLS data published through FRED put the July 2026 U.S. city average at $6.584 per pound. The same series was $7.118 in July 2025, although BLS says average-price data are better for measuring the price level in a month than for measuring inflation over time.

Bacon example	Current package price	Approximate unit price
Target Market Pantry classic, 16 oz	$4.39	$4.39/lb
Walmart Great Value original, 16 oz	$4.54	$4.54/lb
Costco Kirkland, four 1-lb packs	$19.28 (about 39 minutes at $30 per hour)	$4.82/lb
Hormel Black Label thick cut, 16 oz	$6.97	$6.97/lb
Oscar Mayer original, 16 oz	$8.48	$8.48/lb
Oscar Mayer original, 12 oz	$7.28	$9.71/lb
Old Major smoked bacon, 1 lb	$13 to $15	$13 to $15/lb

These are point-in-time examples, not guaranteed nationwide prices. Grocery prices can change by store, ZIP code, promotion, pickup versus delivery channel, and loyalty offer.

What You’re Actually Buying

Traditional U.S. pork bacon is cured pork belly that is commonly smoked, sliced, and packaged for cooking. The retail price pays for more than the fresh belly. It reflects trimming, curing ingredients, smoking, processing time, slicing, packaging, cold storage, transportation, retail markup, and any brand or production claims.

Thick-cut bacon is not automatically more expensive than regular sliced bacon. Current Walmart listings show Great Value regular and thick-cut 16-ounce bacon at $4.54, while a 12-ounce Oscar Mayer original package on the same market page is substantially higher per pound.

“Uncured” also does not simply mean a product contains no nitrate or nitrite from any source. USDA explains that products using ingredients such as celery juice powder can carry an uncured label with qualifying language about naturally occurring nitrate or nitrite. That labeling distinction matters when a higher-priced package is marketed around curing terminology.

The 12-Ounce Bacon Trap

Package shrinkage makes the shelf price a poor comparison tool. Walmart currently lists Oscar Mayer Original Naturally Hardwood Smoked Bacon at $7.28 for 12 ounces and $8.48 for 16 ounces.

The 12-ounce package converts to $7.28 ÷ 12 × 16 = $9.71 per pound. The 16-ounce package costs $8.48 per pound.

Buying the full pound costs only $1.20 more at checkout but provides four extra ounces, which is 33.3% more bacon. The unit-price difference is $9.71 – $8.48 = $1.23 per pound, making the one-pound package about 12.7% cheaper per pound.

The same rule applies to 8-ounce premium packs. A package can look inexpensive because less bacon is inside. Divide the package price by its ounces and multiply by 16 whenever the shelf tag does not show a reliable per-pound price.

Store Brand, Name Brand, Warehouse

Store brand: Target currently lists its 16-ounce Market Pantry hardwood-smoked bacon at $4.39. Other mainstream store brands can sit in the same $4 to $5 per pound area before temporary sales.

National brand: Name-brand prices vary by package size and promotion. Oscar Mayer’s current 12-ounce and 16-ounce original packs show how the smaller package can have the higher unit price, while Hormel Black Label thick cut has recently appeared around $6.97 per pound.

Warehouse club: Costco Same-Day currently lists four one-pound packs of Kirkland hickory-smoked sliced bacon for $19.28 (about 39 minutes at $30 per hour). That is $19.28 ÷ 4 = $4.82 per pound. Same-Day prices can differ from the in-warehouse shelf price, and a membership is required for normal Costco shopping.

Artisan butcher: Old Major Market currently lists traditional smoked, applewood, black-pepper, and paleo bacon at $13 per pound, while its smoked beef bacon is $15. Specialty production and small-batch sourcing put these products well above the current national sliced-bacon average.

Online artisan bacon can also add shipping. A $13 product is not necessarily a $13 delivered pound if the order does not meet a free-shipping threshold.

Raw vs Fully Cooked Bacon

Fully cooked bacon can look surprisingly expensive by weight. Walmart currently lists an Oscar Mayer fully cooked 6.3-ounce package at $10.48, equal to $26.87 per pound, and a smaller 2.52-ounce box at $4.97, equal to $31.06 per pound.

That does not mean precooked bacon is simply three or four times more expensive for the same edible amount. Raw bacon loses water and rendered fat during cooking, while the precooked product has already gone through that yield loss. The current fully cooked bacon listings are useful for comparing one precooked product with another, but raw and cooked package weights should not be treated as identical quantities.

The convenience premium can still be large. Buyers pay for cooking, handling, packaging, and the ability to heat a small portion quickly without dealing with raw bacon grease.

Why Bacon Prices Differ

Package size: Smaller 8- and 12-ounce packages often have higher per-pound prices even when the checkout total looks lower.

Processing: Dry curing, longer smoking, hand slicing, and full precooking add labor, time, yield loss, and packaging costs.

Production claims: Certified organic pork, heritage breeds, animal-raising claims, and specialty ingredients can raise the input cost and target a smaller market.

Retail channel: Grocery stores sell smaller packs conveniently, warehouse clubs trade larger purchase quantities for lower unit prices, and specialty sellers charge more for small-batch products.

Location: BLS regional data also show meaningful differences. The July 2026 average was $7.415 per pound in the Northeast urban region, while the South urban average was $6.183 per pound. That is a $1.232 per pound gap, or about 19.9% relative to the South figure.

Three Bacon Shopping Scenarios

Budget supermarket purchase. A 16-ounce store-brand pack at $4.39 costs $4.39 per pound. Buying four pounds at that same unit rate would cost $17.56.

Warehouse bulk purchase. Four pounds of Kirkland bacon on Costco Same-Day cost $19.28, or $4.82 per pound. Compared with the July national BLS average of $6.584, that unit price is $1.764 lower per pound, about 26.8% below the national monthly average. The products and sales channels are not identical, so this is a price comparison rather than a quality comparison.

Artisan purchase. Four one-pound specialty packs at $13 each cost $52 before any shipping. Compared with four pounds at the national July average, 4 × $6.584 = $26.34, the artisan example costs about $25.66 more.

Worked breakfast-month example

Suppose a household uses one pound of bacon each week. At $4.54 per pound, four weeks cost 4 × $4.54 = $18.16. At $9.71 per pound, the same four-pound quantity costs $38.84. The monthly difference is $20.68, or $248.16 across 12 months if the same buying pattern continued.

Who This Cost Makes Sense For

Makes sense if:

• You compare bacon using price per pound or price per ounce rather than package price alone.
• You can use or freeze a multi-pound purchase before quality declines.
• You value a particular smoke, cure, breed, organic certification, or small-batch process enough to pay the premium.
• A warehouse membership is already useful for other purchases, so the bacon saving is not carrying the membership cost by itself.

Does not make sense if:

• You buy a smaller package only because the shelf price is lower without checking unit cost.
• You pay for bulk quantities that are likely to be discarded.
• You compare fully cooked and raw bacon solely by package weight.
• You assume thick cut, uncured, organic, or artisan labels automatically tell you which product is the best value.

What We Verified and Related Costs

What we verified

• Checked the BLS average-price methodology, which defines the bacon series as prepackaged thick, regular, or thin sliced uncooked pork bacon and cautions against using average prices as the main inflation measure.
• Confirmed a current low-end grocery benchmark through Target’s 16-ounce Market Pantry listing at $4.39.
• Cross-referenced curing terminology with USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service bacon guidance, including its explanation of uncured labeling and naturally occurring nitrite sources.

Related meat and breakfast costs

Bacon begins with pork belly, but raw belly and finished bacon have different processing and yield economics. The current pork belly cost provides the closer raw-meat comparison.

For shoppers comparing premium meat prices, lamb chop prices and venison prices per pound show how cut scarcity and specialty sourcing can move meat well beyond supermarket bacon prices.

If the real choice is breakfast at home versus eating out, current McDonald’s breakfast prices provide a different per-meal comparison than buying bacon by the pound.

Answers to Common Questions

How much does a pound of bacon cost?

The July 2026 U.S. city average for sliced uncooked bacon was $6.584 per pound. Current individual products range from around $4.39 per pound for a store brand to $13 to $15 per pound for specialty butcher bacon.

How much does a pack of bacon cost?

A supermarket pack commonly costs around $4 to $9, but the package may contain 12 ounces rather than a full pound. Check the net weight and unit price before comparing two packages.

Is a 12-ounce bacon package cheaper than a 16-ounce pack?

Not necessarily. In the current Oscar Mayer example, the 12-ounce package is $7.28, or $9.71 per pound, while the 16-ounce package is $8.48, or $8.48 per pound. The larger package costs more at checkout but less for each pound purchased.

Is warehouse-club bacon cheaper?

It can be. Costco Same-Day currently lists four pounds of Kirkland bacon for $19.28, equal to about $4.82 per pound. Compare the current warehouse or delivery price with local grocery sales and account for the membership if you would not otherwise have one.

Why is fully cooked bacon so expensive per pound?

Precooked bacon has already lost moisture and rendered fat during processing, and the price also includes cooking and convenience. A small fully cooked package can show a unit price above $25 per pound without being directly comparable with a pound of raw bacon.

Price note: Bacon prices vary by store, location, package size, brand, sale, processing method, and shopping channel. The BLS national figure is a monthly market benchmark. Check the current unit-price label at the store for the purchase you are making.