Cage-free
California egg prices: cage-free wholesale
California cage-free large white eggs are 53.0¢/doz loose, delivered, on USDA's daily index (Oct 8, 2026). Wholesale, cents per dozen; the weekly Southern California store-door price is in its own table below.
Data through Oct 8, 2026 · source last checked Oct 13, 2026 · page revised Oct 13, 2026
Cite
- California cage-free, loose, delivered (daily index)
- Southern California, cartoned, delivered store door (weekly)
About this data
- Source
- USDA AMS Egg Market News, Daily National Shell Egg Index
- Series
- California cage-free large white loose shell eggs, delivered
- Basis
- Delivered, loose
- Geography
- California
- Unit
- ¢/doz
- Calculation
- 5-day weighted average
- Last observation
- Oct 8, 2026
- Update frequency
- Daily (business days)
Now 53.0¢/doz, up 3% on the week, down 57% year over year. California cage-free large white, loose, delivered basis, USDA.
California cage-free large white eggs are up 3% on the week to 53.0¢/doz loose, delivered, on USDA's daily index. The price is down 57% year over year from 122¢/doz. Month over month cage-free has risen 17.8% from 45.0¢/doz.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | 53.0¢/doz | 51.4¢/doz | +3.1% |
| Month over month | 53.0¢/doz | 45.0¢/doz | +17.8% |
| Year over year | 53.0¢/doz | 122¢/doz | -56.6% |
| Size | Store door, Southern California | Week earlier | California benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jumbo | 163¢/doz (range 153-172¢) | 163¢/doz | 161¢/doz |
| Extra Large | 107¢/doz (range 101-112¢) | 108¢/doz | 113¢/doz |
| Large | 98.5¢/doz (range 93.0-104¢) | 99.5¢/doz | 106¢/doz |
| Medium | 61.5¢/doz (range 54.0-69.0¢) | 62.5¢/doz | 94.0¢/doz |
Previous weeks
An earlier week
California cage-free large white loose eggs stand at 50.5¢/doz delivered on USDA's daily index, down 9% on the week. Year over year the price has fallen 59%, from 123¢/doz.
Week of Sep 29, 2026
California cage-free large white eggs firmed to 55.5¢/doz loose, delivered, up 7% on the week. The price has fallen 54% year over year, from 121¢/doz.
Week of Sep 22, 2026
Cage-free large white loose prices in California fell to 52.1 cents per dozen on a delivered basis, down 7% on the week and 73% year over year.
Week of Sep 15, 2026
California cage-free large white loose eggs rose to 55.8 cents per dozen, up 24 percent on the week from 45.0 cents. The price is down 75 percent year over year from 223 cents, and down 31 percent month over month from 80.6 cents.
How California's egg market works
Under Proposition 12, shell eggs and liquid eggs sold in California must come from hens housed cage-free to the state's standard, wherever they were laid, and the final standard has applied since January 1, 2022 (California Health and Safety Code 25990; CDFA). So the California market is effectively all cage-free, which is why this page lives in the cage-free section: there is no conventional California price to compare against. Much of that supply comes from other states. California had about 11.5% of the US population in 2025 (Census Bureau) but about 2.8% of the table-egg layers in US flocks of 30,000 or more in August 2026 (USDA NASS).
California against the national market. On USDA's daily index, California cage-free large white is 53.0¢/doz delivered (Oct 8, 2026), against 25.0¢/doz for national cage-free and 39.5¢/doz for the conventional benchmark, both priced at the plant. Part of that gap is freight: the California quote is delivered to the buyer and the national ones are not. Over the last 12 months the monthly gap between California and national cage-free has ranged from 4.4 to 30.1 cents a dozen, so California does not simply track the national price plus a fixed amount. Why California egg prices run apart from the national market covers the reasons.
The store-door price. USDA's weekly California report also prices cartoned Grade AA cage-free eggs delivered to the store door in Southern California. At 98.5¢/doz (range 93.0-104¢) for large eggs in the week of Oct 5, 2026, it sits well above the loose delivered figure because it includes grading, cartons and delivery to the store. It is still a wholesale price: the shelf price adds the store's own margin. No agency publishes a monthly average retail egg price for California; the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a US city average, which this site tracks on the retail egg prices page, and no current California or West-region egg price.
Common questions
What is the price of eggs in California?
At wholesale, California cage-free large white eggs are 53.0¢/doz loose and delivered on USDA's daily index as of Oct 8, 2026, and cartoned Grade AA eggs delivered to Southern California stores run 98.5¢/doz (range 93.0-104¢) in the week of Oct 5, 2026. No agency publishes a monthly average store price for California. The closest official consumer figure is the BLS US city average, $2.27 for a dozen grade A large eggs in August 2026, a national number. What any one store charges depends on the chain, the brand and the carton.
Are all eggs sold in California cage-free?
Yes, by law. Under Proposition 12, shell eggs and liquid eggs sold in California must come from hens housed cage-free to the state's standard, wherever the eggs were produced, and the final standard took effect January 1, 2022. So a California buyer is priced off the cage-free market rather than the conventional one.
Why are eggs more expensive in California?
Mostly because every egg sold there has to be cage-free, and cage-free hens cost more to house and keep than caged ones, so California prices off the cage-free market rather than the cheaper conventional one. Freight adds to it: much of the state's supply comes from other states, and USDA quotes California's price delivered. The gap is not constant: USDA's numbers show it widening and narrowing month to month. Why California egg prices run apart from the national market walks through it.