This Is the Best Grocery Store in the U.S.

What makes a grocery store the best? It’s obviously a subjective question, but generally speaking, a balance of affordability, good products, canny promotions and rewards, and items and trends that actually appeal to customers has proved to be a winning strategy. These traits have become especially important in recent years, as more and more people feel the squeeze.

That’s if H-E-B’s success is anything to go by, anyway. This month, the Texas-based chain was awarded the top spot in customer data science firm Dunnhumby’s Ninth Annual Retailer Preference Index for U.S. grocery stores, beating out the likes of Aldi, Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Walmart. It’s not the first time it’s done this, and it may not be the last.

H-E-B’s Affordability, and Its Regional Strategy, Gives It The Edge

H-E-B has been claiming the top spot in Dunnhumby’s report for four years in a row, and over the last nine years, it’s led the pack five times. A big part of why it’s done that this year is because of its affordable nature, which has become increasingly valuable to consumers over the past year. “2025 threw a lot of curveballs at the U.S. consumer,” said Dunnhumby’s President of the Americas, Matt O’Grady, in a statement to Food & Wine. “Shopper confidence dropped as concerns about higher prices, fewer job opportunities, and stagnant wages eroded purchasing power. Consumers across all income levels are feeling the squeeze and making more price-conscious choices.”

H-E-B not only ranked top overall, but it was also scored highly for its inexpensive private-label products, as well as for almost everything that Dunnhumby assessed grocery stores on, from quality to variety, to deals and offers to its customers. It’s also won points from us for its snacks and sauces, but that’s just by the by.

Its regional nature also allows it to retain a small-ish, more individualized feel, which is an important factor in its success—and in the success of other stores that rank well. In second and third overall place in the report were Market Basket and Woodman’s, both smaller regional chains. This is the first time that the top three positions are dominated by regional grocers.

Costco, Aldi, and Trader Joe’s Are Also in the Top 10

Dunnhumby’s report (which was compiled with data from more than 11,000 shoppers, who buy their groceries from dozens of different retailers) ranked Costco and Aldi in fourth and fifth place, respectively, followed by WinCo Foods at number six. Trader Joe’s came seventh, a big improvement on the previous year (and we’ve made no secret of how much we loved some of its 2025 products, so we were pleased about that one), while Amazon and Wegmans followed.

Rounding out the top ten was ShopRite, and just edged out of it was Walmart. Of the ten highest grocery stores in Dunnhumby’s report, it’s notable how many of them are smaller and how many focus on affordability.