Food · Single item chart

Tomatoes.

Field grown · per pound · US city average · all available data

Tomatoes vs. official inflation, 1953–2025

Indexed: 1980 = 100 · Three lines, three measures of inflation: what consumers actually paid (retail), the BLS CPI subindex for this category, and overall CPI-U All Items

Tomatoes, retail price (BLS APU0000712311, 1980+) Tomatoes, CPI subindex (BLS, 1953+) CPI-U All Items (BLS, 1947+)

Reading the chart. Field-grown tomatoes are seasonally volatile but show no sustained long-term divergence from CPI — they grew 2.73x from 1980 to 2025 while CPI grew 3.91x, a 30% cooler trajectory. Greenhouse and hydroponic production, year-round California and Florida supply, and Mexican imports keep retail prices in check. The chart shows pronounced year-over-year volatility but no breakout from the broader inflation trend.