The Democrats' best card
Clinton +8.2%
From $1.57 to $1.69, January 1993 to January 2001.
The chart they hide: Obama +51%
AI illustrationGround beef
The price of ground beef: what a family dinner costs now
Burgers do not care about your party. This chart shows what a pound costs now and how far it has climbed.
- 100% beef, per pound · September 2026
- $6.79
- vs. a year ago
- +7.4%
- Record high · August 2026
- $6.92
- Record low · June 1986
- $1.17
The whole story, month by month
Democrats vs. Republicans
Democrats+4.2%per year in office, over 20 years and 3 presidencies
Republicans+3.8%per year in office, over 23 years and 5 presidencies
Both sides have a chart to wave
The Republicans' best card
Reagan +8.3%
From $1.29 to $1.40, January 1984 to January 1989.
The chart they hide: G.W. Bush +39%
Every president, ranked
Percent change during each term. Best to worst.
- Clinton+8.2%
- Reagan+8.3%
- Trump I+12%
- G.H.W. Bush+12%
- Trump II (so far)+22%
- G.W. Bush+39%
- Biden+40%
- Obama+51%
Why this number starts fights
Beef is a slow-moving price with fast-moving politics. Drought and a shrinking U.S. cattle herd push it up over years, while tariffs and import rules become the partisan part of the argument. Unlike eggs, herds take years to rebuild, so these rises tend to last.
How to read it without getting played
No president controls this number alone. Congress, the Federal Reserve, global markets, wars, pandemics and the economy they inherited all move it. A term's score shows what happened on their watch, not what they caused. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling a side.
Method: percent change from the month a president took office to the month the term ended. The party figure is the annualized rate across all its years in office.
More numbers people fight about
Show the yearly table
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $6.79 |
| 2025 | $6.69 |
| 2024 | $5.61 |
| 2023 | $5.21 |
| 2022 | $4.80 |
| 2021 | $4.60 |
| 2020 | $3.95 |
| 2019 | $3.86 |
| 2018 | $3.73 |
| 2017 | $3.71 |
| 2016 | $3.56 |
| 2015 | $4.06 |
| 2014 | $4.16 |
| 2013 | $3.46 |
| 2012 | $3.08 |
| 2011 | $2.92 |
| 2010 | $2.38 |
| 2009 | $2.19 |
| 2008 | $2.41 |
| 2007 | $2.23 |
| 2006 | $2.26 |
| 2005 | $2.30 |
| 2004 | $2.14 |
| 2003 | $2.23 |
| 2002 | $1.69 |
| 2001 | $1.71 |
| 2000 | $1.63 |
| 1999 | $1.53 |
| 1998 | $1.39 |
| 1997 | $1.39 |
| 1996 | $1.42 |
| 1995 | $1.40 |
| 1994 | $1.38 |
| 1993 | $1.57 |
| 1992 | $1.50 |
| 1991 | $1.58 |
| 1990 | $1.63 |
| 1989 | $1.50 |
| 1988 | $1.40 |
| 1987 | $1.32 |
| 1986 | $1.26 |
| 1985 | $1.28 |
| 1984 | $1.30 |