Fourth of July cookout costs 15% more since Biden took office

The price of a July 4th cookout has gone up 15% since President Biden took office.

With information obtained from the American Farm Bureau on specific-item price changes in 2021, the White House touted a decrease in a Fourth of July cookout price by 16 cents, compared to the previous year, from $35.70  to $35.54.

"Hot dog, the Biden economic plan is working," the White House said in a tweet highlighting the price drop, after Biden was in office roughly six months.  

However, this year's cost, when compared to the costs cited by the White House from the AFB's list in 2021, is $40.90 – a 15% increase from 2020, before the president took office, according to an analysis by Just the News. 

The biggest price change for any item on the 2021 White House list is cookout staple ground beef, which has increased roughly 30% since 2020, from $4.45 to $5.77 a pound.

Though the cost of a July 4 cookout in 2021 was 16 less than the year before, the 2023 version will cost roughly $5.20 more than one did in 2020.

The AFB's list of 4th of July cookout items does not include some other very common cookout items' changing prices. For example, the price of beer and other alcoholic drinks has gone up almost 13% since July of 2020; the price of hotdogs has increased 14%; chicken has increased 21%; and steak has increased 16%, a specific price tracking website says.

In addition, the price of a Fourth cookout this year, or in the past three year, is likely more expensive than the White House projections, considering two pounds of ground beef is only enough for about eight hamburgers, which wouldn't be a lot for a an Independence Day cookout beyond an immediate family.

And price are significantly higher in some parts of the country, particularly in major cities and surrounding suburbs.

At a northern Virginia grocery store on Monday, ground beef costing $5.99 a pound, a New York Strip steak cost $15.99 a pound and a 12-pack of Stella Artois beer was $20.99.

"I was surprised to see that hotdogs cost so much," Falls Church, Virginia resident John DeCelle told Just the News. "Celebrating the holiday just hurts my wallet a lot more than it used to."

In 2022, the price of the cookout, according to the AFB, was the highest it has ever been – up 17% from the previous year. In 2023, the price went down a little less than 3%.

The price of cheese has gone down 13% since 2020, according the the AFB, the only item on the list to drop in price since Biden took office.