Is ALDI cheaper than Walmart? Price comparison 2022 (2023)

Which is cheaper, ALDI or Walmart? Let's Compare ALDI and Walmart Prices in Spring 2022!

This is the third in a series of price comparison experiments between ALDI and Walmart: Here I compare the prices of the same private label groceries in both stores in the same city on the same day. In both previous editions (Spring 2017 and Spring 2019), ALDI priced ahead of Walmart on most items and in all categories.

• ALDI fan?Check out my free weekly ALDI meal plans too!

However, due to Covid I skipped repeating this experiment in 2020-2021. So: high time to check the prices again in spring 2022 to see if ALDI is there still cheaper than Walmart. I revisited my local ALDI and Walmart in Villa Park, IL last week (April 2022) on the same day. I collected updated prices from both stores and looked at what has changed over the past three years.

Read on for some ALDI vs. Walmart price comparison charts for a range of common groceries, plus some observations on how prices have changed — and where they've risen the most.

Which is cheaper: ALDI or Walmart?

Here's my methodology for determining if ALDI is still cheaper than Walmart, plus a few notes.

1. I only reviewed common foods and tried to get a representative cross section of prices.
2. I have compared private label to private label with only a few exceptions. When this was not possible, I compared ALDI brands with the cheapest equivalent national brand.
3. I have compared identically sized items whenever possible. Where this is not possible I have given prices per pound, per item or per ounce in the tables below, with the actual price and size of the item in both stores listed at the end.
4. I have rounded all percentages and per pound/ounce prices to the nearest whole number.

The prices may differ from you:Here in the Chicago area, food prices are often higher than in some other parts of the country. Walmart and ALDI prices are regional (and may even vary for some items in stores within a few miles of each other).

Prices can also change from day to day, especially in our current age of inflation. Because this oneSnapshot of a single dayof two shops in one city, you're likely to see some different prices in your own local shops - and maybe even come to a different conclusion in your own area.

Finally, note that since you can use coupons at Walmart but not at ALDI, sometimes branded items can be priced down to more competitive levels. Continue herehow to save on groceriesgenerally.

ALDI squeaked out the price advantage in 2022

To get straight to the point: Yes, ALDI will still beat Walmart on price in 2022. But the price differential between the two stores has narrowed significantly in most categories, and Walmart has even taken the lead in some.

Check out the price comparison charts and discussion below for all the details.

At a glance

In all color-coded charts below:

• Green means a tie: the price for a specific item is the same in both stores
• Yellow means that ALDI is cheaper on a specific item
• Blue means Walmart is cheaper for a specific item

Yes, that sometimes even means a price difference of a cent or two; For many items, one store just barely beat the other. Check out the discussions in each category to find out howa lot ofcheaper ALDI tends to be for a specific range of products, as how much you save by shopping ALDI varies a lot depending on where you arewhat types of food you buy. In some categories and for many articles these differences are now quite small.

If you find the charts difficult to read:

• Touch or right-click a chart to display it on its own page so you can zoom in, or
• Download all price comparison charts for 2022in a single PDF

Note: The PDF download only includes the direct price comparison tables, not the analysis below.

ALDI vs. Walmart: Organic Grocery Prices

ALDI was still cheaper than Walmart on almost all organic groceries I reviewed in 2022, but for most items the price difference was pretty much negligible. For example, 64 ounces of organic whole milk is $3.95 at ALDI and $3.98 at Walmart; Cage-free organic eggs were $3.65 at ALDI and $3.68 at Walmart.

If you bought one of each organic food product in this table, you would pay5% moreat Walmart than at ALDI. But if you take out the one outlier item (organic coconut oil for $4.99 at ALDI; $6.24 at Walmart) and then buy one of every other item, you'd be paying a little more2 moreat Walmart.

ALDI vs. Walmart: meat prices

However, when it came to meat prices, ALDI continued to lead. In 2022, Walmart has beaten ALDI on only a few fresh meat items, and just barely. With some other fresh meat products, however, you save significantly more at ALDI. For example:

• Boneless skinless chicken breast family packswere $2.09/lb at ALDI; $2.97/lb at Walmart
• Medium packs of 80/20 ground beefwere $3.99/lb at ALDI; $4.76/lb at Walmart
• Boneless pork chops in the middleran $4.19/lb at ALDI; $5.24/lb at Walmart
• Fresh tilapiawas $5.79/lb at ALDI; $6.91/lb at Walmart

If your family eats meat regularly, especially common items like chicken and ground beef, you can still save by shopping at ALDI. Looking at this list as a whole: overall, meat prices at Walmart were average12% morethan at ALDI.

However, when it comes to variety and quantity, Walmart beats ALDI by far. This is even true for some everyday objects. My local ALDI, for example, doesn't even stock traditional whole chickens anymore; Walmart had them for $1.25/lb. My ALDI was hit or miss for fresh meat items; Walmart was less stocked than usual but had most products on the shelves.

How much have meat prices changed?

Let's take a quick look at how the price of some common fresh meat products have increased between my last review in 2019 and now:

• Boneless skinless chicken breast family packsare up 10% at ALDI; up 49% at Walmart
• Family packs of chicken drumsticksare up 40% at ALDI;Low6% at Walmart
• Medium packs of 80/20 ground beefare up 38% at ALDI; 2% more at Walmart
• Beef Meatloafis up 47% at ALDI; 8% up at Walmart
• 12 ounce packs of hot dogsare up 51% at ALDI;Low8% at Walmart

It honestly surprised me that (aside from those big packs of boneless chicken breasts) ALDI's overall meat prices have risen so much more than Walmart's over the past three years -- especially for beef.Check out the Walmart vs. ALDI 2019 post here.

ALDI vs. Walmart: product prices

In terms of fresh produce, ALDI pricing was again better than Walmart pricing for most items. Aside from potatoes and strawberries, however, that difference was minimal in many cases — bananas were just a penny more per pound at Walmart; Coriander $0.03 more per bunch; Celery $0.05 more. And broccoli and apples were significantly cheaper at Walmart. If you calculate the average prices for all the products I reviewed, there was fresh fruit and veg running around at Walmart4% morethan their colleagues at ALDI.

Regarding the productsquality, although: In my area, ALDI products beat Walmart by far. The avocados at ALDI were big and perfect; the ones at Walmart were small and squishy. Strawberries at ALDI were nice and big and ripe; the ones at Walmart were kind of immature and moldy at the same time.

How much have product prices changed?

While the prices of some fruits and vegetables have remained remarkably stable (and some have even fallen), others have risen dramatically. Since 2019:

• 3 pound bags of yellow onionsare up 30% at ALDI; 18% up at Walmart
• Bags of garden lettuceare up 89% at ALDI;Low11% at Walmart
• Bags of spinachare up 22% at ALDI; 10% more at Walmart
• Bunch of corianderare up 8% at ALDI; 13% up at Walmart
• bananasareLow43% an ALDI;Low47% at Walmart
• AvocadosareLow8% an ALDI;Low4% at Walmart

Unfortunately, some of the product prices that have risen the most, particularly at ALDI, include staples like onions, lettuce and spinach.

Walmart vs. ALDI: Milk Prices

Just look at this yellow sea: When comparing items in the conventional dairy department, ALDI prices beat Walmart prices for every single product. Again, the cost of many items was very close: only a cent difference in a gallon of milk or in an 8-ounce brick of cheddar cheese.

For other items, however, this price difference was much more significant: a dozen eggs was $2.30 at ALDI and $2.92 at Walmart, 16 ounces of buttered quarters were $2.99 ​​at ALDI and $3.58 at Walmart, and a can of sour cream cost $1.59 ALDI and $1.96 at Walmart.

If you bought one of each item in the table above, you would pay13% moreon your milk cart at Walmart than at ALDI.

How much have milk prices changed?

Milk and egg prices have skyrocketed since 2019. Curiously, however, products like cheddar blocks have fallen in price. (Egg prices in particular have risen dramatically just this week due to the bird flu outbreak, but are up more at Walmart than at ALDI.) Since I last checked in 2019:

• A gallon of whole milkis up 60% at both ALDI and Walmart
• A dozen eggsare up 95% at ALDI; 128% at Walmart
• 16 ounces buttered quartersareLow5% at ALDI; 10% more at Walmart
• An 8-ounce block of cheddarisLow7% an ALDI;Low16% at Walmart

Fresh food (meat, milk, produce) has grown the most in recent years, but these increases have been uneven and prices have fluctuated. And since ALDI runs weekly sales on produce and meat where Walmart only advertises daily low prices, you can sometimes save more by switching your ALDI spend to temporarily cheaper products, too.

Note: For information on organic dairy products, see the separate organic section above.

ALDI vs. Walmart: Pantry-Heftklammerpreise

In terms of pantry staples, ALDI prices exceeded or matched Walmart prices for every item I reviewed in 2022 -- albeit again by pennies in some cases. If you bought one of each stock item in the table above, you would pay5% moreoverall at Walmart than at ALDI. (Note: This number takes into account thepro Unzeprice rather than thatapiecePrice on rice and pasta sauce as they are different sizes in each store.)

However, many of these pantry staples were either priced identically or very similarly. With everything from canned corn to mayonnaise, black beans to yellow mustard, white rice to cream of mushroom soup, it really doesn't matter which store you shopped at.

How much have pantry staples changed?

Pantry staple prices seem to be everywhere. Some products, such as tomato paste and bread, have gone through the roof in recent years, while others have been flat or only slightly up. Overall, prices have changed more at ALDI than at Walmart since the last review in 2019:

• 6 ounce cans of tomato pasteare up 51% at ALDI; 35% more at Walmart
• 20 ounce whole grain sandwich bread is up 53% at ALDI; 68% more at Walmart
• 32 ounce cases of chicken brothareLow7% an ALDI;Low8% at Walmart
• 15 ounce canned black beansare up 3% at ALDI; unchanged at Walmart
• 30-ounce jars of mayoare up 12% at ALDI; unchanged at Walmart
• White long grain riceis up 10% at ALDI; unchanged at Walmart

In 2019, stock items at ALDI also increased in price faster than at Walmart; The gap here isn't as big as it used to be.

Walmart vs. ALDI: Prices for Baked Goods and Condiments

In the baking and condiment department, Walmart wins by a hair's breadth. Buy one of each item in the table above and pay a whopping sum1% lessat Walmart than at ALDI. However, the raisins alone have propelled Walmart to the top. If you simply take raisins from the shopping cart in both branches, ALDI comes out2% cheaper. (For some reason, that can of raisins is up $0.90 at ALDI since 2019, but only $0.10 at Walmart.) Either way, the prices here are very, very close.

Note: I only compared oregano as a representative sample of the $1.00 condiments at each store, but you will see about the same price difference per ounce for most condiments. Of course, at both stores, these $1.00 condiment bottles are significantly smaller than they were in 2019; no grocer is immune to shrinkage.

How much have baking prices changed?

This category was all the rage again: While some items (eg rapeseed oil) have risen sharply, the costs of other items (eg flour) have actually fallen. That might be because Easter is still close, but I checked the prices during the weekafter thisthe holidays. Some price changes since 2019 include:

• 48 ounces canola oilis up 56% at ALDI; 53% more at Walmart
• Brownie mixis up 15% at ALDI; 11% up at Walmart
• 5 pound bags of flourareLow17% an ALDI;Low19% at Walmart
• Vanilla extractis up 18% at ALDI,Low14% at Walmart

In some cases, these changes appear to have more closely aligned prices across both stores: For example, this small bottle of vanilla was a whopping $1.93 more expensive at Walmart in 2019 than it was at ALDI, but in 2022 it will cost just $0.09 more.

ALDI vs. Walmart: Snackpreise

If you bought one of every item I reviewed in the snack aisle this year, you would pay7% moreat Walmart than at ALDI. (This explains the size difference in the bags of potato chips.) While some items like pretzels and almonds were fairly similar in price, others like graham crackers and tortilla chips varied quite a bit.

Since we're overall focusing on cooking meals at home here, I haven't reviewed many snack products in 2022.

ALDI vs. Walmart: prices of frozen food

Last but not least: I only checked a few representative frozen food prices this year, but Walmart actually has the edge here. If you bought one of each item in the table above, you would pay4% lessat Walmart than at ALDI.

This savings comparison takes into account the difference in size between pizzas and waffles: Always be careful! Both stores are to blame for this. At first glance, paying $1.00 for a box of waffles looks better than paying $1.24 — but not when you're getting 8 instead of 10. When it comes to private label frozen pizza, Walmart's is still cheaper per ounce -- but, because ALDI is over an ounce heavier, the difference isn't as big as it seems when you just look at item prices.

A quick note on grocery pickup

If you choose to have groceries picked up, it's important to know that Walmart's pickup prices applythe samelike their prices in the shop. However, ALDI grocery pickup prices arehigherthan the in-store prices since they use Instacart as a third-party fulfillment service. There are also no fees at Walmart as long as you reach a minimum order of $35.

• Would likeTo attemptWalmartpick up groceries? Here's a $10 off $50 code forNeuCustomers:TRIPLE10.
• Want to try ALDI grocery pickup or delivery via Instacart? Ireviewed Instacart back in 2018; However, prices, fees and processes may have changed.

If you use grocery pickup,Walmart will be cheaper than ALDI. The fees and product markups on Instacart eat up (and exceed) any savings you would otherwise see comparing prices in-store.

Since Walmart's online pickup prices are the same as in-store prices, you can also usetheir grocery storeCompare with the current ALDI prices - without having to visit both branches.

What do your shopping experiences tell you?

So, now that we've gone through all those prices and percentages, what are yours doingownALDI and Walmart shopping experiences tell you?

• Do you find these patterns true in your stores?
• Is your ALDI cheaper than your Walmart?
• Do you want the prices at your Walmart to be better than mine?
• How much have prices increased in your area lately?

I'd love to hear from those of you who shop at both ALDI and Walmart in different parts of the country so let me know what you find.

***Download all ALDI vs Walmart price comparison charts for 2022 in a single PDF here.

Blast out the price comparison past

You can see previous posts and price snaps here:

• ALDI vs. Walmart, 2019
• ALDI vs. Walmart, 2017

(How times have changed...)