Is Trader Joe's Expensive Compared To Walmart?

In the midst of a so-called "egg-calypse," you probably want to make sure you're getting the most bang (read: food) for your buck — and that, of course, will depend on where you're shopping. Trader Joe's, for one, is a grocery store beloved for its wide selection of frozen meals, slew of organic offerings, and ever-changing rotation of seasonal items that each seem to have their own cult following. On a consistent basis, you can expect the quality of TJ's items to far exceed their price points. 

But how does Trader Joe's grocery pricing actually compare to that of a mega-retailer like Walmart? With rollbacks and discounts aplenty, shoppers have lots of opportunities to save at the chain, even on groceries. If you turn to online forums like Reddit, you'll find lots of folks agreeing that when it comes to the staples (think: eggs, meat, and produce), Walmart has TJ's beat in terms of overall price point. 

After conducting some of our own shopping cart research, we can confirm that Trader Joe's is generally more expensive than Walmart — but not by a very wide margin. At the time of writing, online listings show that a carton of 12 large pasture-raised brown eggs is $5.99 and $5.24 at TJ's and Walmart, respectively. Meanwhile, a New York Angus strip steak is $14.99 a pound at the former and $14.97 a pound at the latter. A single Hass avocado? That'll be $1.49 at Trader Joe's and 87 cents at Walmart. Not a huge disparity, but it can add up.

While Walmart sells a wider variety of brands than Trader Joe's does, it's the store's in-house Great Value brand that really gives it a budget-friendly edge over its grocery store competition. Whether you're looking for an affordable pint of favorite ice cream flavor, some deliciously spicy chicken nuggets, or even some surprisingly high-quality sliced bread, you'll find it at Walmart with that signature blue and white Great Value label. 

Compared to Trader Joe's brand products, Great Value, well, offers a great value. Not only do you typically get larger portions of the same type of foods, but the cost per ounce is lower overall. Take a frozen pepperoni pizza, for example. You can take home 28.25 ounces of fluffy, crusty, cheesy goodness from Great Value brand at Walmart for just $4.97. But at Trader Joe's, a similar frozen pizza weighs in at just 17.63 ounces, and costs over a dollar more. It's pretty much the same situation for a number of frozen meals and snack foods, from frozen spaghetti to peanut butter. 

So yes, Trader Joe's is the pricier destination of the two, especially when TJ's items are held up against the Great Value versions. But if you're not necessarily in the market to stock up on heartier portions — or if you have a regular lineup of Trader Joe's items that you simply must have — the price differences are negligible enough not to make you feel totally guilty about shopping there. If you're really penny-pinching, however, Walmart is definitely the way to go.