The best time to buy peaches, from 14 years of U.S. government shelf prices.
Worth timing
Buy peaches in August if you can.
Over 2006–2019, peaches in August ran a typical 6% below that season’s average price, and August was below it in 14 of 14 years. June is the dearest month (10% above): a 16-point swing.
Peaches are a summer fruit. BLS only finds them in enough stores from June through September, so the comparison here is within that season.
Typical price each month compared with that season’s average, 2006–2019. The bar is the median year; the thin line spans the middle half of years.
| Month | Typical vs trend | Middle half of years | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | not in enough stores to price | ||
| February | not in enough stores to price | ||
| March | not in enough stores to price | ||
| April | not in enough stores to price | ||
| May | not in enough stores to price | ||
| June | +10% | +7% to +15% | 14 |
| July | −2.2% | −4% to +1.1% | 14 |
| August | −6% | −7% to −4% | 14 |
| September | −2.2% | −3% to −0.8% | 14 |
| October | not in enough stores to price | ||
| November | not in enough stores to price | ||
| December | not in enough stores to price | ||
BLS stopped publishing a national average price for peaches after August 2020 (the last one was $2.09 a pound), so this pattern covers 2006–2019. Seasons like this come from harvests and holidays and change slowly, but treat the size of the swing as history.
Each row is one year; the dot is the month peaches were cheapest relative to that year’s trend. August was the single cheapest month in 10 of 14 years, and the month next to it in 4 more.
| Year | Cheapest month |
|---|---|
| 2019 | August |
| 2018 | September |
| 2017 | August |
| 2016 | July |
| 2015 | July |
| 2014 | September |
| 2013 | August |
| 2012 | August |
| 2011 | August |
| 2010 | August |
| 2009 | August |
| 2008 | August |
| 2007 | August |
| 2006 | August |
What else is cheap in August: what’s cheap in August. Fruit: strawberries (Jul), grapes (Sep), navel oranges (Apr), grapefruit (Mar), lemons (Mar), bananas (Dec), cherries (Jul). All 39 foods: the grocery price calendar.
August. Over 2006–2019 the U.S. average price of peaches in August was typically 6% below that season's average, and below it in 14 of 14 years. June is the dearest month (10% above).
June, typically 10% above that season's average.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data (U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted), the shelf prices BLS collects every month for the Consumer Price Index, through October 2026. Seasonal pattern and every number on this page computed by Online List Maker; how.