Whether you eat eggs on rare occasions or buy them multiple times a week, you've likely seen some record-high prices. The national average for a dozen eggs was $4.95 at the end of January, and the situation has gotten so dire that Waffle House and Denny's have begun adding a surcharge for every egg they sell.
Why are egg prices so high? One reason is a major bird flu outbreak, which has led to millions of hens being culled. But while the bird flu has contributed to a severe egg shortage, the severity of its impact is now being questioned: The US Justice Department has begun to investigate whether egg producers are purposely limiting supplies, in order to drive costs up.
There's no doubt that egg prices have surged -- more than doubling in some areas over the past six months. And the impact goes beyond higher costs; empty shelves are becoming more common, and some grocery stores are now restricting egg purchases.
If you have eggs in your fridge, make sure you use them while they're fresh. You can find a substitute for eggs in many cases, even if you're baking, but it can still be frustrating to go without this kitchen staple. We'll explain the bird flu's impact on egg supplies and discuss when you might start to see the price of eggs go down.
Read more: Raw Cat Food Linked to Bird Flu: A Vet Shares How to Protect Your Pets From the Virus
How is bird flu affecting the price of eggs?
The current spike in egg prices has been driven by a virulent strain of bird flu that caused the death of 20 million egg-laying chickens in the last quarter of 2024 alone.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, since early 2022 bird flu has resulted in close to 100 million chickens, turkeys and other poultry being killed. Most of the birds culled to stop the epidemic have been egg-laying hens, causing the availability of eggs to plummet and the price to soar.
However, one pressure group believes that the lack of hens doesn't account for the low supply and high cost of eggs. Farm Action, in an open letter to the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, alleges that bird flu has had only a "minimal" effect on the price of eggs:
While avian flu has been cited as the primary driver of skyrocketing egg prices, its actual impact on production has been minimal. Instead, dominant egg producers—particularly Cal-Maine Foods—have leveraged the crisis to raise prices, amass record profits, and consolidate market power. The slow recovery in flock size, despite historically high prices, further suggests coordinated efforts to restrict supply and sustain inflated prices.
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In some locations, eggs aren't exactly priced to move. Getty Images
The US Justice Department is now investigating the cause of the high prices. Its civil antitrust probe is working to determine if the egg shortage is the result of collusion between producers and distributors such as Cal-Maine Foods Inc. and Rose Acre Farms Inc.
Whether or not the shortage has been exaggerated, customers seem willing to pay a premium for eggs, at least for now. According to one economist, this acceptance of higher prices means there is currently an increased demand for eggs.
"Some egg sellers may see this as an opportune time to set prices artificially high," says David Anderson, a professor of economics and business at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. "Beyond the actual hit to supply from the loss of hens to bird flu, the well-publicized egg shortages make consumers more tolerant of higher prices. This increased willingness to pay is effectively an increase in demand that allows producers to raise prices. Such behavior may sustain elevated egg prices in the short term."
How can I find cheaper eggs?
If you're looking for the lowest egg prices, there are online resources that can help. The website Pantry & Larder has a page called Eggspensive that tracks the price of a dozen eggs at Walmart stores nationwide.
Another price tracker, The Krazy Coupon Lady, compares prices from stores around the US and compiles a list of the supermarkets offering the cheapest eggs. The site has a separate section that lists weekly egg sales and coupon deals.
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Price trackers like Pantry & Larder's can show you where the cheapest eggs are available. Pantry & Larder/Screenshot by CNET
When could egg prices start coming down?
There are too many unknown factors for experts to accurately predict when egg prices will drop. Severe winter weather has been one cause of the recent price spike, but it seems to be bird flu that's causing the overall price increase. The most recent USDA Egg Market Overview report (PDF), published March 7, shows that the average price for a dozen eggs in California was a whopping $7.57. California has been one of the states hit hardest by bird flu.
Even so, there are reasons to believe that prices will return to normal later this year. Anderson thinks it will depend on the bird flu's trajectory, as well as replacing the hens that have been culled.
"If the bird flu outbreak does not become significantly worse, I expect that egg prices will take a downward path," says Anderson. "Over time, destroyed hen populations will be replaced, new egg sources will appear in response to the high prices, and consumers with low-to-moderate preferences for egg products will adapt to substitutes, especially in the places with the highest egg prices. These increases in supply and decreases in demand will usher the prices lower."
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The USDA predicts that egg prices will decrease starting in the second quarter of 2025. USDA
The USDA has projected that egg prices will start to decrease in the spring. According to its monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report (PDF), the price will drop back down to $3.90 per dozen in the second quarter of 2025, and down to $2.90 in the third quarter. However, eggs are likely to remain expensive throughout March, and prices could still increase if bird flu cases continue to spread.
Why are eggs so expensive while chicken prices are low?
You may be wondering why the cost of chicken has barely changed, when egg prices have gone up so much. Shouldn't bird flu affect both chicken and eggs equally?
The short answer is no: The birds that produce eggs aren't the same ones raised for meat. Egg-laying chickens tend to be older and therefore more vulnerable to bird flu. They don't start laying eggs until they're 18 weeks old; if a flock of layers is wiped out, it takes at least six months to recover. Younger chickens raised for meat can still get bird flu, but they can be replaced after just seven weeks.
What happened in 2015 when bird flu made egg prices spike?
It's not the first time bird flu has caused egg prices to rise dramatically. Back in late 2014 to June 2015, an earlier bird flu pandemic in the US caused the price of eggs to nearly double.
According to the USDA, more than 50 million chickens were killed by the bird flu or euthanized during those seven months, causing the price of a dozen grade A large eggs in the New York market to spike from $1.29 in April 2015 to $2.61 in August. That price didn't revert back down to its former average until early 2016.
The USDA called the 2014-2015 bird flu epidemic "the largest poultry health disaster in US history," but the current bird flu epidemic that started in 2022 is even larger -- more than 13 million chickens have been affected in the past 30 days alone.
Is bird flu dangerous to humans?
Bird flu is caused by avian influenza Type A viruses, which spread among waterfowl and can infect other wild birds, domestic poultry and other animals. Though bird flu rarely infects humans, the current outbreak is responsible for 69 human cases in the US and one death, as of this writing.