Beer Prices Rise to a Median of $6.50

Discover current beer prices and how much a beer costs in U.S. restaurants nationwide. View monthly average pricing data and key takeaways to track the changing costs of your favorite brew.

Brian KoerberAuthor

Key takeaways

What Affects Pricing

Whether it's a craft brew from a local brewery or a mass-produced domestic beer, the majority of beers contain four ingredients: water, hops, yeast, and grains, with barley being the most common. Beer can also be made from other grains, such as wheat, rice, corn, oats, rye, and more.

Aside from raw ingredients, other factors that affect the price of beer include taxes, distribution costs, packaging costs (such as aluminum cans and kegs or glass bottles), labor, demand, and production expenses. While there are countless American beers served in restaurants in the U.S., there are also plenty of imported beers from around the world, which can face additional costs, from tariffs to shipping costs.

At restaurants, refrigeration — from walk-in coolers filled with kegs to keep draft beers cold to lowboy fridges behind the bar for bottles and cans — staffing, and maintaining draft beer lines can also have an effect on pricing.

Unlock more insights by Toast

Fill out the form to get a virtual demo with a Toast specialist

About the Toast Menu Price Monitor

The Menu Price Monitor, powered by Toast, uncovers key menu pricing trends across the restaurant industry through aggregated sales data from restaurants on the Toast platform, which has approximately 156,000 locations as of Sept. 30, 2025. This information is provided for general informational purposes only, and publication does not constitute an endorsement. Toast does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links, or other items contained within this content. Individual results may vary. Toast does not guarantee you will achieve any specific results if you follow any advice herein. It may be advisable for you to consult with a professional such as a lawyer, accountant, or business advisor for advice specific to your situation. The Toast Menu Item Price Tracker does not indicate Toast's operational performance or its reported financial metrics.

FAQs

How does this data differ from previous data you have released?

Data in the Menu Price Monitor is a snapshot view of all applicable Toast platform restaurant locations in a given month. Previous pricing data released by Toast included filtering, such as same-store sales, and further breakdowns by restaurant type and other categories.

What kind of AI powers Toast Benchmarking?

Does this tracker include a comparison of same-store sales?

What is the scale of the data in the tracker?

When will this data be available?

What are the Median, 25th, and 75th percentiles?

Do you have additional data on restaurants?

Subscribe to Data by Toast

Use Toast’s data insights to get ahead of the curve and track market trends on menu pricing, industry patterns, and more.

By submitting, you agree to receive marketing emails from Toast. We’ll handle your info according to our privacy statement. Additional information for California residents available here.