The market, explained
Why are egg prices high right now?
When egg prices are high the reason is almost always one of four things, often several at once: a bird-flu hit to the laying flock, thin inventory, a wholesale benchmark running well above a year ago, and a stretch of the calendar when demand runs hot. This page tracks all four live, so the charts below show where each stands today rather than a number that goes stale.
Updated Jul 13, 2026
Cite
When egg prices are high, the reason is almost always one of four things, and often several at once: a bird-flu hit to the laying flock, thin inventory, a wholesale benchmark running well above where it sat a year ago, and a stretch of the calendar when demand runs hot. The charts on this page track all four, so instead of a number that is out of date by the time you read it, you get the live picture. Start with the benchmark.
The benchmark, against a year ago
- National loose
The chart above is the national large white loose price, the wholesale benchmark, with its history behind it. The single most useful read is the latest value against the same week last year. A price far above year-ago is the market telling you supply is tight relative to demand right now. A price near or below year-ago says the opposite. USDA publishes this figure as a report of what eggs traded for, not as a forecast.
Bird flu, the supply shock
- Layer birds affected
The usual trigger for a spike is highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI. When APHIS confirms the virus at a commercial egg farm, the entire flock is depopulated, and a large layer barn can hold several million hens. The chart above tracks the egg-layer birds lost to HPAI over time. A cluster of large detections pulls a chunk of national supply offline within days, and because a replacement flock takes months to raise to laying age, the price effect outlasts the outbreak. For the full mechanism, see how HPAI moves egg prices.
Inventory, the cushion
- Total inventory
Inventory is the shock absorber between the farm and the shelf. The chart above is national shell egg inventory measured against its five-year band. When stocks sit below the normal range for the week, the market is tight and prices firm. When they sit above it, there is slack. Inventory is the one egg series with enough history for that five-year comparison, which is why this site leads its board with it.
Where the calendar sits
Demand is the fourth piece, and it runs on the calendar. Baking demand builds through the fall into Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Easter is the spring peak, so a tight supply picture bites hardest when it lands on top of one of those pulls. The egg demand calendar lays out the pattern. Supply runs year-round while demand concentrates, so the same lost barn matters more in December than in July. Set the four charts side by side and you can usually see which force has the upper hand this week.
The Scramble explains what moves the egg price and shows where each driver stands from the live USDA and APHIS data. It does not forecast prices, supply or avian-influenza detections.
Now look at the live data
Common questions
Why are eggs so expensive right now?
The live charts on this page answer that for today. High prices generally trace to bird-flu losses in the laying flock, low inventory, a benchmark above year-ago, and peak-season demand, usually in combination.
Will egg prices come back down?
The Scramble does not forecast prices. It reports the USDA benchmark and the APHIS bird-flu picture behind it, and the charts show where both stand right now.
Why do egg prices spike so fast?
A confirmed HPAI detection removes a whole flock at once, so supply drops within days. Rebuilding a flock takes months, which is why egg prices tend to rise faster than they fall.
How high have egg prices gotten?
The chart shows every peak in context. In early 2025 the wholesale benchmark set records above 8 dollars a dozen after heavy winter HPAI losses, per USDA, before falling back sharply that spring.
The Scramble reports public USDA and APHIS data and explains how this market works. It does not forecast prices, supply, or avian-influenza detections, and it is not purchasing, contracting, or hedging advice: it never tells a reader when to buy, contract, or lock. Figures are attributed to USDA and APHIS as published.