Aldi vs. Target vs. Walmart: Which Chain Has the Cheapest Groceries?

Find out where you can save the most on supermarket staples

Donna Fuscaldo,

AARP

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En español

Published May 31, 2024

bars showing different lengths of receipts in hand baskets

AARP (Source: Getty Images (2))

Aiming to get consumers shopping again, some retailers are slashing prices this summer on thousands of everyday items.

For older shoppers, especially those on fixed incomes, that will be welcome news, particularly when it comes to groceries. Since the pandemic, food-at-home prices are up 25 percent. More than 9 million older adults face food insecurity, meaning they struggle to access and afford adequate food.

Aldi, Target and Walmart are advertising broad price cuts, including on groceries. But determining which store has the best bargains for you can be difficult without scouring their websites, perusing their aisles and calculating the unit price to get an apples-to-apples comparison.

An arduous task, to say the least, but one AARP didn’t shy away from. Armed with a list of 30 popular items, we went shopping on New York’s Long Island to see which store had the cheapest groceries. Here are the results.

The Winner: Aldi

Aldi, which has 2,381 locations in 39 states and territories, including California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania,Texas, and Washington, D.C., was the clear winner. From bananas to salmon, the basket at Aldi cost $66.11, compared with $67.63 at Walmart and $83.62 at Target. Agnes Sollecito, a 62-year-old retiree from Floral Park, New York, does her food shopping mainly at Aldi, lured by the low prices. She plans her meals by the bargains she finds at the store. “It’s definitely cheaper,” says Sollecito, pointing to two pineapples in her shopping cart. “These are $1.79.”

Aldi recently announced plans to reduce prices on over 250 items, including picnic supplies, barbecue essentials, travel-ready snacks and healthier foods, that it expects will save customers $100 million through Labor Day. A similar campaign saved customers $60 million last year, according to the company. Aldi pointed to persistent inflation as why it expanded its price reductions this year. Prices have clearly come down since last year. The same basket of goods cost $90.91 in May 2023.

Second Place: Walmart

Walmart, with more than 10,500 stores in every state and 19 countries, was only $1.52 more expensive than Aldi. Walmart’s generic brand held its own but was slightly more expensive in some categories, which pushed its basket bill over Aldi’s. In our price comparison last May, Walmart came out on top. At $88.37, its basket was $2.54 cheaper than Aldi’s.

Walmart may win back its top spot as it expands its ongoing program of price rollbacks this summer. Paul Madiefsky, a 68-year-old retiree from Long Island, hasn’t noticed the price cuts yet, but is still fond of the retailer. “Prices are reasonable. I don’t find them expensive, and they have good stuff,” says Madiefsky.

To save money Madiefsky uses coupons, finding them online and in newspapers. As for Walmart’s price cuts, Madiefsky welcomes any savings. “It’s only a few pennies here, 20 cents there. But it adds up for people who are struggling,” he says.

Third Place: Target

Target, with 1,956 stores in every state, had the priciest basket by a wide margin. In many categories, Target’s prices were only slightly higher, but higher-priced salmon and no store-brand milk or cornflakes proved costly. Target's basket was $17.51 more than Aldi’s with those three items, but just $5.86 more without them. It was $15.99 more than Walmart’s with them and only $2.21 more without them.

That may not matter for shoppers like Annette Kruzynski, a 78-year-old retiree from West Hempstead, New York, who sees grocery shopping at Target as an extra convenience. It was only recently, when she was shopping for cat litter, that she realized Target sold groceries. “Anytime we go to Target we pick up a few things,” says Kruzynski.

Target just cut the prices on 1,500 items, from milk to paper towels, with more to come. The retailer plans to reduce prices on about 5,000 items, which it says will save consumers millions of dollars this summer. Kruzynski says she’ll likely visit Target more if she can save. “We go where the sales are. Whoever has the lowest price gets our business,” says Kruzynski.

grocery baskets with prices and store names over them

AARP (Source: Getty Images (2))

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Donna Fuscaldo is a contributing writer and editor focusing on personal finance and health. She has spent over two decades writing and covering news for several national publications including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Investopedia and HerMoney.