Lots of stores sell pumpkins in September and October, and they’re all pretty similar in terms of shape, size, and quality. But if all else is equal, that means we can be picky and find out who has the best pumpkin prices.
I grabbed my trusty bathroom scale and went from store to store in the Boise, Idaho, area, with the ultimate goal of finding out how much stores are charging for pumpkins near me. We now know the cheapest place to buy pumpkins, and we’ll help you sort through the sometimes confusing price structures that can hide a bad deal.
Spoiler alert: if you’re getting charged more than $0.40 per pound, you’re paying too much. But you can do even better than that.
While your prices may vary from mine based on your location, generally speaking, this pumpkin price guide will help you know how to spot a good deal on your next Jack-o’-lantern, and which stores you’ll want to skip.
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Offers and prices may vary.
Pumpkins near you will be either priced per pound or for one flat rate.
When you’re comparing pumpkin prices at various stores, it’s a little tricky, since some stores charge you by the pound, and some charge you the same price no matter what size your pumpkin is. That’s why I shamelessly carted my bathroom scale around town to find the average weight of pumpkins at each store I visited. So regardless of how the store prices pumpkins, I’ll make it easy to see who has the cheapest pumpkins near you.
Stores that Charge per Pound for Pumpkins
Albertsons: $0.39/lb
Stores that Charge a Flat Price for Pumpkins
Aldi: $4.49
BJ's: $8.99
Costco: $6.99
H-E-B: $8.30
Home Depot: $6.98 and $10.98
Kroger: $5.50
Lowe’s: Between $6.98 and $14.98
Meijer: $5.99
Sam's Club: $6.98
Target: $5.49
Trader Joe’s: $4.99
Walmart: $4.50
Whole Foods: $6.99
WinCo Foods: $3.49
Generally speaking, you’ll want to buy smaller pumpkins per pound and larger pumpkins at a flat rate.
If you’re looking for a table decoration pumpkin or a Jack-o’-lantern for a little kid, a smaller pumpkin in the 10-pound range or less might be what you’re looking for. In that case, you’ll want to find stores that charge by the pound. Anybody who charges a flat rate for these smaller carving pumpkins is almost certainly ripping you off. We’ll prove that later in this article.
And while a 30-pounder is tough to find, a 20-pounder isn’t, and if that’s what you’re after, you’ll want to pick a store that charges a flat rate for their pumpkins, which would reduce your overall cost per pound.
Remember, if you’re getting charged more than $0.40 per pound, you’re paying too much.
OK, here are the pumpkins, ranked from best deal to worst:
1. The cheapest pumpkins near me are at WinCo Foods for $3.49.
If you don’t have a WinCo in your area (they’re in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington) you’re missing out.
The no-frills, bag-your-own-groceries warehouse store continually offer the lowest prices on carving pumpkins at just $3.49. They’ve got a wide variety of sizes available too. That means a 12.5-pounder will cost you $0.28 per pound or $0.25 per pound for a 14-pound pumpkin.
2. Costco’s 24-pound pumpkins are $6.99 each, making them $0.29 per pound.
It’s easy to find a 24-pounder in the pumpkin bins at Costco. That’s the average weight of the pumpkins they had at my store (and the smallest one I found was still 17.5 pounds.). For the flat rate of $6.99, that means you’ll easily be able to get a $0.29 per pound price.
3. Kroger has pumpkins for $5.50 each, which works out to about $0.34 per pound.
Kroger and all of their affiliated stores are selling medium carving pumpkins for $5.50 each. I found varying sizes and weights of pumpkins, between 12.5 pounds and 21 pounds. On average, they were about 17 pounds. Here’s why that matters.
If you can find one of the big ones, you can end up walking away with one of the best prices around. A 21-pound pumpkin at $5.50 would cost you $0.26 per pound. But the smaller pumpkins, like the 12.5-pounder I found, would end up being $0.44 per pound. The average 17-pound pumpkin would be a respectable $0.32 per pound. But the bigger the better at Kroger.
In late October 2023, you could buy one carving pumpkin at just $2.99 each. This offer was limited to three redemptions in a single transaction. You had to clip a digital coupon found on Kroger.com or in the Kroger app. This coupon was limited to one per household. The offer is back for 2024, with a slightly higher price. This year, use a $1.50 coupon to pay $3.99 per pumpkin.
4. Target pumpkins cost $5.49 each or an average $0.35 per pound when you pay with a Circle Card.
My local Target didn't have nearly the selection of pumpkins that other retailers have. But their sizes were all pretty much the same: around 15 pounds each. That makes the price per pound $0.37. Pay with a Circle Card and the price drops to $0.35 per pound.
5. Whole Foods has surprisingly cheap prices, averaging $0.37 - $0.45 per pound.
We used to tell people to avoid Whole Foods for pumpkins — but not anymore.
Whole Foods sells pumpkins (large and small) for $6.99 apiece. The regular carving pumpkins averaged 15.5 pounds each, which comes out to $0.45 per pound. And the jumbos averaged about 19 pounds each. That $6.99 price means you’d pay $0.37 per pound on average.
6. Albertsons charges $0.39 per pound for pumpkins — and my store had some really big ones.
Albertsons charges by the pound for pumpkins, and their $0.39 per pound is a 26% increase since 2020, when they were $0.29 per pound.
While this isn’t the best price for carving pumpkins, my Albertsons had some larger pumpkins in stock, which is great if you’re wanting a big ol’ Jack-o’-lantern. Their lighter pumpkins were a whopping 16.5 pounds, and I easily found 20-pounders.
7. Aldi pumpkins are a flat $4.49, or about $0.41 per pound.
Aldi pumpkins average 11 pounds a piece with a $4.49 price ($0.50 more per pound than last year). Based on the pumpkins I weighed, the average Aldi pumpkin costs $0.41 per pound. This year, Halloween at Aldi hasn't been impressive. Their Halloween candy had some of the highest prices we've seen so far, and their pumpkin price per pound is over our $0.40 target price.
8. BJ's Wholesale Club pumpkin price is $8.99 or $0.45 - $0.56 per pound.
I found pumpkins at BJ's Wholesale Club that weighed 16 - 20 pounds. Although these aren't some of highest-priced pumpkins, at $8.99, these pumpkins cost anywhere from $0.45 - $0.56 per pound.
9. Meijer sells pumpkins for $5.99 each, which means you’ll pay $0.46 per pound on average.
The pumpkins at Meijer average about 13 pounds, but I found a range of between 10 and 17 pounds, so they’ve got the medium sizes covered.
At Meijer you'll find pumpkins for $5.99 per pumpkin. But look for them to go on sale for $4.99 closer to Halloween. On average, you’ll end up paying around $0.46 per pound.
10. H-E-B pumpkins cost $8.30, but based on their size you’re paying around $0.46 per pound on average.
Although H-E-B has a lot of pumpkins on the larger side, you’re not going to find the best deals there. Their carving pumpkins cost $8.30, and I found pumpkins weighing between 16.5 and 20.5 pounds. That means you can expect to find around an 18-pounder.
What does that mean cost-wise? You’ll spend $0.46 per pound on average.
11. Trader Joe’s pumpkins cost $4.99 each, but that shakes out to about $0.50 per pound.
Got five bucks? Then the price is right at Trader Joe’s. The name of the game here is finding the biggest pumpkin you can, since you’re paying a flat rate. But at my Trader Joe’s, I didn’t find anything bigger than 12.5 pounds. Based on my scale, I found that TJ’s pumpkins are around 10 pounds each on average, so you’ll be paying around $0.50 per pound.
12. Walmart sells medium pumpkins for just $4.50, which comes out to $0.50 per pound.
Walmart has two different pumpkin sizes available at their stores, and both have flat rates. Medium pumpkins, which average around 9 pounds, cost $4.50, which gets you a $0.50 per pound price.
Pretty crazy to think that grocery stores like Albertsons and Kroger offer lower per-pound prices on pumpkins.
Related: How to Clean Out a Pumpkin Fast
13. Home Depot sells pumpkins for a flat rate, but they end up being $0.71 per pound — at best.
Yeah, you’re gonna want to skip pumpkin picking at Home Depot. Their prices are some of the worst we’ve seen.
Their medium pumpkins, which average around 8 pounds each, cost $6.98. That’s a cost per pound of $0.87. And although the jumbo pumpkins are a little better, it’s still not great compared to the other stores we visited. The jumbo pumpkins I found averaged only 13.5 pounds, and at $10.98 each, you’re paying $0.81 per pound. The biggest pumpkin I found, a 15.5-pound “jumbo”, would still end up being a whopping $0.71 per pound.
Go somewhere else. Anywhere else, really.
14. Lowe’s pumpkin prices are confusing, inflated, and easily $1 or more per pound.
Gonna make this simple for you — avoid Lowe’s for pumpkins. It’s even worse than Home Depot.
There were no prices listed anywhere near their pumpkins. At the register, we learned that, depending on the sticker on your pumpkin, you’ll pay a certain flat price, between $6.98 and $14.98. Weight didn’t necessarily have anything to do with it.
Regardless, if you’re curious, here’s what I found:
7-pound pumpkin for $6.98 ($1/lb)
13.5-pound pumpkin for $14.98 ($1.11/lb)
BONUS: White pumpkins are cheapest at Walmart.
The best deal I found while visiting nearly a dozen stores was Walmart’s white pumpkins. The $4.58 flat rate for white and other non-standard traditional orange varieties blew the competition out of the water. Most other stores charged double Walmart’s cost.
So while Walmart isn't my recommendation for cheap orange pumpkins, it’s definitely the place to go if you’re looking for a pile of white pumpkins to decorate your front porch this year.
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