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You Won't Believe the Insane Prices on These Grocery Items

Why prices are up to quadruple the cost in one place vs. another.

As a grocery shopper, you probably have a rough idea of what your favorite food and household items cost. Some things, like eggs and meat, can fluctuate based on demand, but other things usually have a pretty steady price tag.

Well, one TikTok user has revealed in a video with almost 300,000 views, what customers in one state pay at the grocery store and the prices will shock you. Groceries in Alaska are significantly more expensive than in the lower 48 states.

According to the video from a TikTok user named Suzi, prices for things like bleach, coffee creamer, bell peppers, and coffee are three to four times what they cost at places like Walmart, Trader Joes, and Kroger in states from California to New York. Alaska prices include cereal for $7.39, $18.79 for sugar, $19.29 for laundry detergent, and more. Take a look for yourself:

Related: This Amazingly Low-Cost Grocery Store Is Quietly Expanding Across the U.S.

@shes_a_copShopping trip in Alaska!♬ original sound – shes_a_cop

These prices can be attributed to where Alaska is geographically — about 500 miles north of the continental U.S. Alaska is also the largest state, it's about as big as Texas, California, and Montana combined. For the more than 730,000 residents, that's a lot of ground to cover. So it makes sense that some more remote areas are going to have higher prices and fewer items in stock.

Speaking of fewer items in stock, the pandemic flipped grocery stores upside down, and many stores had empty shelves. Things like flour and toilet paper were out of stock, many name-brand snacks were on hand, meaning customers bought more. Eggs saw a huge increase in demand when the pandemic started in March, and that caused the price for a dozen to hit over $3 when the normal price is around $1. And meat prices virtually doubled to costs that almost rival Alaska prices.

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Amanda McDonald
Amanda has a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree in digital journalism from Loyola University Chicago. Read more about Amanda