DENVER (KDVR) — Does the grocery store receipt look different with the same amount of food? Groceries in Denver are around the same price as other mid-sized cities in the United States. But if you think Denver’s groceries are more expensive than usual, that’s because they are.

Compared to other major cities, Denver’s groceries rank fairly low. FOX31 looked at local grocery stores in the downtown area of popular cities and looked at the Kroger price for store brand bread, milk and eggs:

Denver’s grocery prices were the second cheapest at $7.17 next to Colombia, South Carolina’s groceries prices — which amounted to $6.67. While it’s not surprising, San Diego has the most expensive groceries.

Denver’s groceries aren’t necessarily cheap. In fact, grocery prices across the country are on the rise.

Between July 2022 and July 2023, food prices across the United States increased by 4.9%, according to the consumer price index (CPI) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In July alone, food prices rose by 2%.

So, why are groceries so expensive?

NerdWallet looked into why the U.S. is seeing a rise in grocery prices nationwide. There isn’t a singular answer. Some of the prices are due to high labor and food production costs, but prices are also inflating because of the lower supply chain.

There are a few reasons the supply chain changed in the past few years. It started with the pandemic affecting the food supply. On top of the pandemic, droughts and wildfires in the western part of the U.S. left less crop yields for the taking.

The war in Ukraine also affected access to food because the war limited the country’s ability to export food. Ukraine makes up 9% of the global wheat market and 12% of the corn market, according to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. 

While Denver ranks on the lower side for grocery prices, it’s still not cheap. Comparing the prices of each product before you put them in your cart can help reduce the cost of groceries.