Methodology

The Concept

The Cheeseburger Index tracks the cost of making a single cheeseburger at home using retail ingredient prices. It's inspired by The Economist's Big Mac Index, which uses McDonald's prices to compare purchasing power across countries. Our index focuses on home cooking costs within the United States, broken down by Census region.

Unlike the Big Mac Index (which tracks a single restaurant chain's pricing), The Cheeseburger Index reflects what consumers actually pay at grocery stores. This makes it a more direct measure of food cost inflation as experienced by everyday shoppers.

The Recipe

Our standard cheeseburger consists of five ingredients, sized for a typical homemade burger:

The recipe is deliberately simple and stable. We use the same quantities every month so that price changes are the only variable. Condiments (ketchup, mustard, pickles) are excluded because the per-burger cost is negligible and the BLS does not track individual condiment prices at regional granularity.

The Calculation

For each month and region, the index is calculated as:

Cheeseburger Cost = Sum of (ingredient_price × amount_per_burger)

Example (national, Feb 2026):
  Ground Beef:  $5.67/lb × 0.330 lbs = $1.871
  Am. Cheese:   $4.92/lb × 0.063 lbs = $0.310
  White Bread:  $1.85/lb × 0.125 lbs = $0.231
  Lettuce:      $1.42/lb × 0.063 lbs = $0.089
  Tomatoes:     $2.18/lb × 0.125 lbs = $0.273
                                       ───────
  Total:                               $2.774

Data Sources

All price data comes from a single authoritative source:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — CPI Average Price Data
The BLS publishes average retail prices for approximately 70 food items as part of the Consumer Price Index program. Data is collected monthly from thousands of retail establishments across the country and published at both the national level and for four Census regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, West).

This data is U.S. government public domain — there are no licensing restrictions, usage fees, or access limitations. We access it via the BLS Public Data API (version 1.0, no registration required).

Regional Coverage

The BLS provides average price data for four U.S. Census regions:

• Northeast — CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
• Midwest — IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI
• South — AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
• West — AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY

These are the most granular geographic breakdowns available from the BLS average price program. City-level data is not published for individual food items.

Update Schedule

The BLS releases new average price data monthly, typically 2-3 weeks after the reference month. We update the index within 24 hours of each BLS release. Historical data is never revised unless the BLS issues a correction.

Limitations

• No city-level data: BLS average prices are published at the regional level, not by city or metro area. Prices within a region can vary significantly.
• Simplified recipe: A real cheeseburger might include different cheese varieties, specific bun types, or additional toppings. Our index uses the closest BLS-tracked proxy for each ingredient.
• Retail prices only: The index tracks grocery store prices, not restaurant prices. The cost to eat a cheeseburger at a restaurant is significantly higher due to labor, overhead, and margin.
• No quality adjustment: BLS prices are averages across brands and quality tiers. Premium ingredients (grass-fed beef, artisan cheese) cost more; budget options cost less.