The Cheapest Protein Sources in America
We ranked common protein staples by the only number that matters when you shop on a budget: cost per gram of protein. Every figure comes from two official, public sources — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average retail prices for June 2026, and USDA FoodData Central protein content. No estimates, no store scraping.
Key findings (June 2026)
Eggs are the cheapest complete protein — the best value once you require high-quality, fully-usable protein.
Flour and dried beans are cheapest by raw weight — but lower protein quality (DIAAS ~0.45–0.59) narrows the gap.
Round steak costs 3.5× more per gram of protein than eggs — the premium you pay for a specific cut, not more protein.
Chicken breast is the cheapest lean animal protein — cheaper per gram of protein than ground beef, ham, or steak.
Plain (non-Greek) yogurt is the worst value — only ~3.5% protein by weight. Switching to Greek yogurt is a free 2–3× upgrade.
Whole milk is a top-three complete protein value — cheaper per usable gram than any meat on the list.
Cost per 100 g of protein, ranked
Lower is better. Bars colored by food group. June 2026 U.S. city-average retail prices (BLS).
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| Food | Price (June 2026) | Protein / unit | $/100 g protein | $/100 g usable* | DIAAS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat flour, white | $0.54 per lb | 46.9 g | $1.16 | $2.58 | 0.45 |
| Dried beans (pinto) | $1.63 per lb | 97.2 g | $1.67 | $2.84 | 0.59 |
| Eggs, grade A large | $2.14 per dozen | 75.4 g | $2.84 | $2.84 | 1.13 |
| White rice, long-grain | $1.09 per lb | 32.3 g | $3.37 | $5.71 | 0.59 |
| Milk, whole | $4.32 per gallon | 121.2 g | $3.56 | $3.56 | 1.18 |
| Chicken breast, boneless | $4.18 per lb | 102.1 g | $4.10 | $4.10 | 1.10 |
| White bread | $1.81 per lb | 40.1 g | $4.52 | $10.04 | 0.45 |
| Cheddar cheese | $5.96 per lb | 103.7 g | $5.75 | $5.75 | 1.18 |
| Ham, boneless | $5.51 per lb | 83 g | $6.64 | $6.64 | 1.10 |
| Ground beef, 100% (80/20) | $6.83 per lb | 77.9 g | $8.76 | $8.76 | 1.10 |
| Round steak, USDA Choice | $9.84 per lb | 100.5 g | $9.80 | $9.80 | 1.10 |
| Bacon, sliced | $6.56 per lb | 62.1 g | $10.56 | $10.56 | 1.10 |
| Yogurt, plain (whole) | $1.59 per 8 oz | 7.9 g | $20.17 | $20.17 | 1.18 |
*Usable protein = raw protein × DIAAS (capped at 1.0), the share your body can actually use for muscle. Prices are U.S. city-average retail (BLS, June 2026, not seasonally adjusted). Protein content is USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), raw / as-purchased edible portion.
Cheap by the pound isn't cheap by the gram — or by quality
Dried beans and flour win on raw cost per gram of protein. But grains and legumes are incomplete proteins — limiting in an essential amino acid (lysine for wheat, methionine for beans), which the DIAAS score captures. Multiply the cost by that quality gap and eggs, milk, and chicken breast catch up or overtake them. The cheapest protein you can actually use is a complete one.
Plain yogurt looks cheap on the shelf but is only ~3.5% protein by weight, so you pay $20.17 per 100 g of protein. Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and skyr concentrate protein 2–3×, which is why they dominate our high-protein yogurt ranking. Concentration, not shelf price, is what makes a protein a good value.
Methodology
Prices. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Average Price Data (series APU*), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, for June 2026. These are the same retail prices that feed the CPI food-at-home index.
Protein content. USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), grams of protein per 100 g on a raw / as-purchased, edible-portion basis. Each row's FDC id is retained in our public dataset.
The math. Protein per purchase unit = edible grams × (protein / 100 g). Cost per 100 g protein = price ÷ protein grams × 100. The quality-adjusted column divides by DIAAS (capped at 1.0), the FAO/WHO 2013 digestibility score we use across the site.
Caveats. Meats are priced and scored on raw weight (cooking concentrates protein per gram but you buy raw weight). "Ground beef" uses the common 80/20 grind; "yogurt" is generic plain, not Greek. Whole-food DIAAS values for wheat (~0.45) and beans (~0.59) are used in place of the isolate-level coefficients. Retail prices vary by region and store; these are national averages.
Use this data
This page is free to cite and quote with attribution to ProteinBenchmark.com. The underlying numbers are available as a structured dataset and JSON API, and you can embed our calculators (protein-per-dollar, protein intake, GLP-1) on your own site.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest source of protein?
By raw cost per gram, white flour and dried beans are the cheapest protein in America ($1.16–$1.67 per 100 g of protein at June 2026 average retail prices). But grains and legumes are lower-quality protein (DIAAS ~0.45–0.59), so once you adjust for how much your body can actually use, eggs ($2.84 per 100 g) are the cheapest complete, high-quality protein, followed by whole milk and chicken breast.
Is chicken breast or ground beef cheaper per gram of protein?
Chicken breast is far cheaper: about $4.10 per 100 g of protein versus roughly $8.76 for 80/20 ground beef, using June 2026 BLS average retail prices. Chicken breast is one of the cheapest high-quality animal proteins available.
Why is plain yogurt such a poor protein value?
Regular (non-Greek) plain yogurt is only about 3.5% protein by weight, so even at a low shelf price it works out to roughly $20.17 per 100 g of protein — the worst value on this list. Greek yogurt and skyr are strained to two to three times the protein concentration, which makes them a far better protein-per-dollar buy for a similar price.
Does cost per gram of protein account for protein quality?
It can. The headline ranking uses raw grams of protein. The quality-adjusted column divides by DIAAS (the FAO/WHO digestible-indispensable-amino-acid score), which credits complete animal and dairy proteins in full and discounts grains and legumes that are limiting in an essential amino acid. On a quality-adjusted basis, animal and dairy staples move up and refined grains move down.