Logan / Avondale Grocery Prices - July Update
Yesterday was the last Chicago City Council meeting before their annual August recess. The next complete meeting won’t happen until September 24th—just days before the Council has to notify the State of Illinois whether it plans to impose a city sales tax on groceries once the state tax expires on December 31st.
Working families already spend up to a third of their income on groceries. We urge the City Council to let this regressive tax expire at the end of the year—and not replace it with a new city grocery tax that would hurt the people who can least afford it. Find the money somewhere else. It might not seem like much to some, but with grocery prices up more than 23% since 2020, every penny counts.
With that in mind, we launched our grocery price survey back in June to help neighbors keep track of what they’re spending. Inspired by the Consumer Price Index, we created a standard “basket of goods” and began tracking average prices at local grocery stores. The survey area runs from the Walmart at 4626 W. Diversey to the Fresh Thyme at 2500 N. Elston.
Thanks to your feedback, we’ve added two more stores to our July survey: Rico Fresh at 3552 W. Armitage and Armitage Produce at 3334 W. Armitage. Our focus is on affordability—not selection—so while we appreciate all the store suggestions, we’ve chosen not to include higher-end stores like Whole Foods or Mariano’s.
We also made a couple of tweaks to the basket itself. For July, we added Gala apples—affordable but way better than Red Delicious. And we’ve updated our avocado standards to only include large, ripe ones. With recent tariffs affecting goods from Mexico, we’re seeing more stores carrying cheaper, unripe avocados. We’re only counting the kind you can actually take home and enjoy the on same day.
Just a reminder: this is not a recipe, and we’re not endorsing any store. We’re just trying to offer useful info for our community.
Here’s what’s in the July basket:
1 gallon of whole milk
1 package of El Milagro corn tortillas
1 large ripe avocado
1 Home Run Inn frozen cheese pizza
1 pound of ground beef (80/20)
1 dozen eggs
1 pound of Gala apples
1 can of La Preferida pinto beans
We’ve listed ten area stores in alphabetical order, followed by a summary of our findings—including the average price for each item and how that compares to June’s prices. The best price we found is underlined in orange, and the second-best is underlined in blue.
All prices were gathered on the same day—Tuesday, July 8th—to keep things consistent.
Please share this info with your neighbors, and stay tuned for our August update, where we’ll include a three-month summary of the results!
Aldi
4030 W. Wrightwood
Gallon Whole Milk - $2.51
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.65¢
Large Avocado - (unripe) 0.85¢/lb
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - $6.89
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $4.29
Dozen Eggs - $2.71
1lb Gala Apples - 0.99¢
La Preferida Pinto Beans - Not Available
Armitage Produce
3334 W Armitage
Gallon Whole Milk - $4.99
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.65¢
Large Ripe Avocado - $1.25 per
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - not available
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $3.49
Dozen Eggs - $4.49
1lb Gala Apples - $1.19
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $1.29
Carnicerias Guanajuato
3410 N. California
Gallon Whole Milk - $5.49
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.69¢
Large Avocado - (Ripe) $2.49/item
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - not available
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $3.99
Dozen Eggs - $4.49
1lb Gala Apples - $1.49
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $1.49
Carnicerias Jimenez
3850 W. Fullerton
Gallon Whole Milk - $5.49
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.69¢
Large Ripe Avocado - $1.50 per
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - Not Available
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $4.99
Dozen Eggs - $4.49
1lb Gala Apples - $.99
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $1.39
Cermak Fresh Market
4000 W. Diversey
Gallon Whole Milk - $4.49
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.60¢
Large Ripe Avocado - $1.49 per
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - $9.99
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $5.99
Dozen Eggs - $3.69
1lb Gala Apples - 0.99¢
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $1.49
Fresh Thyme Market
2500 N. Elston
Gallon Whole Milk - $3.49
El Milagro Tortillas - Not Available
Large Ripe Avocado - $2.50 per
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - $10.49
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $5.99
Dozen Eggs - $4.49
1lb Gala Apples - $1.99
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $2.19
Jewel-Osco
3570 N. Elston
Gallon Whole Milk - $2.99
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.59¢
Large Ripe Avocado - $1.99
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - $7.99
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $6.99
Dozen Eggs - $3.99
1lb Gala Apples - $1.99
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $2.49
Rico Fresh
3552 W Armitage
Gallon Whole Milk - $4.99
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.69¢
Large Ripe Avocado - $1.49 per
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - Not Available
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $5.59
Dozen Eggs - $4.49
1lb Gala Apples - $1.49
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $1.39
Tony's Fresh Market
3607 W. Fullerton
Gallon Whole Milk - $3.99
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.69¢
Large Ripe Avocado - $2.99 per
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - $9.99
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $5.99
Dozen Eggs - $3.99
1lb Gala Apples - $1.99
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $2.49
Walmart Supercenter
4626 W. Diversey
Gallon Whole Milk - $2.52
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.66¢
Large Avocado - (unripe) 0.97¢/lb
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - $6.98
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $5.87
Dozen Eggs - $2.72
1lb Gala Apples - $1.97
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $1.42
July 2025 Average
Prices for Each Item
Gallon Whole Milk - $4.10 Down 6.8%
El Milagro Tortillas - 0.66¢ Up 1.5%
Large Ripe Avocado - $1.75 Up 4.2%
Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza - $8.72 Down 1.7%
1lb Ground Beef 80/20 - $5.32 Down 6.0%
Dozen Eggs - $3.96 Up 9.7%
1lb Gala Apples - $1.51 Up 26.9%
La Preferida Pinto Beans - $1.74 Down 0.6%
Our Findings For July
Average prices for the neighborhood as a whole were a “mixed basket” (bad pun) with the average prices for four of our items going down and four of our items going up.
The increase in apple prices was a result of us replacing the most affordable apples in each store with Gala Apples. This is an example of how one simple change based on preference and not affordability, can dramatically change the math. Three stores tied for the best price of the apples at $.99 per pound.
The Aldi at 4030 W. Wrightwood once again had best prices for the items in our basket and is the winner for July. They again had the lowest prices for milk, eggs, apples, and the Home Run Inn Cheese Pizza.
Newly added for this month, Armitage Produce at 3334 W. Armitage was in second place with the best prices on large ripe avocados, ground beef, and the can of La Preferida Pinto Beans.
Cermak Fresh Market at 4000 W. Diversey finished in third place this month with the best price on the Gala Apples, and second place finishes on the prices on the El Milagro Tortillas and large ripe avocados.
Fresh Thyme and Tony’s Finer Foods on Fullerton did not record a first or second place finish again in our July test. The Tony’s on Fullerton was our go to grocery store for a over decade and the results are enlightening.
A few people have asked why we are focusing on name brands for the frozen pizza and pinto beans. We are doing this so we can a true assessment on the comparative prices at each store.
I’d like to thank Elijah Yonker for again helping gather and organize this data.
Please remember to share this information with your neighbors and to check in next month to see the conclusion of our three-month survey. If you would like to get the August survey sent to you, please sign up for our email newsletter below.