We visited 6 Tri-Cities grocery stores to find the best overall prices

With the cost of living rising across the United States, regular expenses may start to feel draining. The weekly or biweekly trips to the grocery store can become more of a chore than anything else.

It’s easy to default to going to the grocery store closest to your home. But you might be able to save money by driving a little farther out for an alternative.

The Tri-City Herald visited six grocery store options on June 11 and 12 in Tri-Cities to find the best prices on 25 common grocery items:

• Bananas

• Yellow onions

• Russet potatoes

• Boneless skinless chicken breast

• Lean ground beef

• Tofu

• Lunch meat

• Whole milk

• Eggs (12 large)

• Shredded cheese (32 oz. Mexican blend)

• Butter

• Simply Orange orange juice

• Coca-Cola (12 cans)

• Frozen carrots and peas mix

• DiGiorno three meat frozen pizza

• White rice

• Oroweat whole wheat bread

• Barilla spaghetti noodles

• JIF peanut butter

• Mission tortillas

• Tortilla chips

• Instant ramen

• Kraft macaroni and cheese

• Party size original Lays

• Napkins

Tri-Cities grocery store price checks

We went to one location for six different grocery stores with multiple locations in Tri-Cities. We avoided places with limited groceries, like Walgreens and Rite Aid, as well as membership-required options like Costco.

The Herald visited:

• Target - 1106 N. Columbia Center Blvd.

• Walmart - 2801 Duportail Street

• WinCo - 101 Columbia Point Drive

• Yoke’s - 454 Keene Road

• Fred Meyer - 101 Wellsian Way

• Safeway - 1803 George Washington Way

We aimed for uniformity across items, but there were some discrepancies that could not be avoided at the time of our visit. For example, the produce items at Target were priced per item, where everywhere else they were priced by pound.

Other discrepancies to keep in mind while examining prices:

• Target was the only location without House Foods tofu, only offering Target’s Good and Gather brand tofu.

• Target only sold yellow onions in bulk, so sweet yellow onions were compared instead.

• Yoke’s was the only location that did not carry Oscar Mayer lunch meat.

• Target did not have a frozen mix of peas and carrots, so a mix of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots was compared instead.

• WinCo offered an 8-count of Mission flour tortillas, where the other stores offered a 10-count.

• Target and Fred Meyer both did not offer individual packets of Top Ramen, only bundles. Single packets of Maruchan ramen were compared instead.

• Walmart and WinCo both did not have a 250 count of store brand napkins, only a 500 count option.

Cheapest groceries in Tri-Cities

While the item-by-item comparison varies, the cheapest total for all 25 items was at WinCo at $84.12. The most expensive total was at Safeway with $113.60.

• WinCo total: $84.12

• Walmart: $87.29

• Target: $89.87

• Yoke’s: $99.42

• Fred Meyer: $103.32

• Safeway: $113.60

This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM.