Coffee prices rose in almost every U.S. state over the last year, per new Toast data shared with Axios, mirroring the surge in the underlying commodity's price this year.
Why it matters: Coffee is among many commodities affected both by general inflation and the Trump administration's import tariffs.
- Coffee plants are also vulnerable to extreme weather tied to climate change, including droughts and heat waves.
Driving the news: The median nationwide cost of a regular cup of coffee hit $3.52 this past August, Toast says, up 2.9% from the same time last year.
- Median cold brew costs hit $5.47, up 4.6% for the period.
- That is compared with general inflation of around 2.9%.
Zoom in: Hot coffee prices rose the most in South Carolina (+9.6%), Nevada (+9.0%) and Florida (+8.3%). They stayed flat in a handful of states, including Idaho, Indiana, Montana and Pennsylvania.
By the numbers: In raw terms, the most expensive cups of joe can be found in Hawaii ($5.23 median price as of August 2025), California ($4.25) and D.C. ($4.21).
- Hawaii often has notably high prices for all sorts of items, given the cost of shipping goods there.
How it works: These prices are based on restaurants using the point of sale technology from Toast.
What comes next: The Trump administration has recently opened the door to lower tariffs on coffee and other items, Axios' Ben Berkowitz reports, but that is dependent on dealmaking with other countries.
