Kitchen Table

SoDu Shopping Basket: Walmart Stays Lowest as Average Grocery Cost Inches Up

Walmart leads at $50.47, with Food Lion ($53.71) and Target ($53.78) close behind. Fresh Market tops $92 - a $42+ spread for the same 17 essentials.

Wes Platt

01 Jan 2026 — 3 min read

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🛒 South Durham Grocery Price Check – Week of Jan. 1, 2026

Happy New Year, neighbors!

Where can you stretch your grocery dollars the furthest in South Durham this week? We priced 17 everyday items - from eggs and milk to meat, pasta, and toilet paper - at nine major grocery stores serving the SoDu area.

This week’s SoDu Shopping Basket shows South Durham grocery prices ticking up slightly overall, but the familiar pattern still holds: Walmart, Food Lion, and Target deliver the lowest totals, while Fresh Market and Sprouts remain the priciest for everyday staples. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive baskets this week is $42.26.

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