The Pepper Index
Fresh jalapeño is $1.36 per pound in this week's national grocery ads. That figure is the weighted average of 1,253 conventional advertised prices in the USDA report dated 2026-09-25. It is not a receipt from one store. Serrano and habanero had no per-pound row, so they stay blank. 1 of 4 weekly snapshots are banked. A trend is not published until week 4.
- Jalapeño, $/lb$1.36
- Serrano, $/lb—not published this week
- Habanero, $/lb—not published this week
- Basket, week-over-week— needs 2 snapshots
Jalapeño advertised price
USDA prints three prices on the same jalapeño row: this week, last week, and the same week last year. This week's $1.36 is 4 cents under last week's $1.40 (2.9%) and 29 cents under last year's $1.65 (17.6%). Ads went from 2,211 last week to 1,253. Those columns are not the Pepper Index trend. The index still has one snapshot.
| USDA column | Ads | Weighted average |
|---|---|---|
| This week | 1,253 | $1.36 |
| Last week | 2,211 | $1.40 |
| Same week last year | 938 | $1.65 |
Report line: “Jalapeno Peppers per lb 1,253 1.36 2,211 1.40 938 1.65.”
Where the 1,253 ads were
South Central and Southwest account for 1,155 of 1,253 ads, 92.2%. The national average is mostly those two regions this week. Southeast and Northwest have no jalapeño per-pound cell. The six regional ad counts add to the national 1,253. The Midwest row is 22 ads. Do not treat that average as the Midwest shelf price.
| Region | Ads | Advertised range | Weighted average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast | 76 | $1.29 | $1.29 |
| Southeast | 0 | — | — |
| Midwest | 22 | $0.69 | $0.69 |
| South Central | 523 | $0.97–$1.99 | $1.35 |
| Southwest | 632 | $0.69–$1.99 | $1.40 |
| Northwest | 0 | — | — |
Cost at this advertised average
Poblano is in the report. It is not in the basket.
The same national summary lists poblano at $1.45 per pound on 52 ads. Last week was $1.89 on 30 ads.52 ads is a thin sample. That move is not a Pepper Index move. The locked basket is jalapeño, serrano, and habanero.
What is missing
Serrano and habanero have no per-pound row in the national conventional summary, the regional tables, or the national organic summary of this PDF. Organic jalapeño is also absent. A missing pepper stays an em dash. It is never estimated.
How the index works
The basket is fresh jalapeño, serrano, and habanero, in dollars per pound. A pepper is published only when that week's report has a first-party per-pound retail figure. Basket week-over-week stays blank until a second snapshot exists. A trend is not published until four weekly snapshots exist. USDA's last-week and last-year columns above are citations from one report. They are not those snapshots.
What it does not measure
Wholesale terminal prices, farm-gate prices, hot sauce bottle prices, and a single chain's shelf price. Named-chain pages were not machine-readable for this snapshot. The ad period is 2026-09-19 to 2026-10-01. Alaska and Hawaii are outside the national conventional summary.
Source
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Specialty Crops Market News, “Weekly Grocery Store Specialty Crops Feature Activity,” 2026-09-25. Section: national conventional summary, not including Alaska and Hawaii. Jalapeño quote: “Jalapeno Peppers per lb 1,253 1.36.” USDA AMS FVWRETAIL.
Questions
- What is the jalapeño price this week?
- Fresh jalapeño is $1.36 per pound in the USDA national conventional grocery-ad report dated 2026-09-25. That is the weighted average of 1,253 advertised prices, not a single-store shelf price.
- Is this a chili pepper price trend?
- No. The Pepper Index has 1 of 4 weekly snapshots. USDA's same report also prints last week at $1.40 and the same week last year at $1.65. Those are columns in one report, not an index trend.
- Why are serrano and habanero blank?
- The September 25, 2026 national conventional summary has no serrano or habanero per-pound row. A missing pepper stays blank. It is not estimated.
- Will I pay $1.36 at the store?
- Not necessarily. $1.36 is the weighted average of advertised prices in major grocery circulars for the period September 19 to October 1, 2026. A store can charge more or less, and a pepper sold by the each is not in this row.