Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Finally, an economic indicator you can eat A corn dog may look like lunch. But to an economist, the price is a bigger story about food prices and inflation. National Finally, an economic indicator you can eat August 30, 20265:01 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Scott Horsley , Joel Rose Finally, an economic indicator you can eat Listen · 3:36 3:36 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5949338/nx-s1-9907048" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript A corn dog may look like lunch. But to an economist, the price is a bigger story about food prices and inflation. Sponsor Message Transcript
JOEL ROSE, HOST:
It's hard to escape inflation these days, even at the state fair. This is opening weekend for the Minnesota State Fair, and an economist in St. Paul, Minnesota, has been tracking the cost of corn dogs and funnel cakes to compile what he calls the on-a-stick price index. This is the kind of hard-hitting investigation that makes NPR's Scott Horsley salivate, and he joins us now in the studio. Hey, Scott.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Hey, Joel. Good to be with you.
ROSE: So a lot of economic reporting this week was focused on Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the Federal Reserve chairman gave a closely watched speech about inflation. But this cost-of-living story takes place about 1,100 miles east. Take us there.
HORSLEY: Yeah. Just about the time central bankers and economists were converging on the Jackson Lake Lodge in Wyoming, Minnesotans were making their way to the state fairgrounds to see some 4-H exhibits and ride the Ferris wheel and, of course, eat some fried food. Tyler Schipper, who is an economist at the University of St. Thomas, has been monitoring annual price changes at the fair, along with a team of students. They're called the Purple Price Trackers for the school's colors, and Schipper says they fan out across the fairgrounds, record the price of food and attractions and do a little snacking.
TYLER SCHIPPER: They have more or less carte blanche to buy food while they're there at the fair. But they get hot, and they get tired. And they're ready to leave the fair before they get their full fair food in.
HORSLEY: Funnel cake prices jumped pretty sharply this year, but the price of all-you-can-drink milk was the same as last year. And the price of soft drinks, or pop, as people say in Minnesota, was actually down just a little bit.
ROSE: OK. But we promised the on-a-stick index here. So what is happening with corn dogs?
HORSLEY: Yeah. This is very interesting. Schipper's price index makes a distinction between Minnesota's brand-name sausage-on-a-stick, Pronto Pups, and the more generic corn dogs.
SCHIPPER: Pronto Pups are much more associated with being a Minnesota State Fair staple. Hence, it gets its own item in our index. But people get hungry, and there's lots more corn dog openings, and so we wanted to include corn dogs in the index as well.
HORSLEY: And the prices have diverged. Corn dog prices were actually down a bit this year, but the price of Pronto Pups was up about 7%. So unlike what we're seeing in supermarkets around the country, people don't seem to be trading down from the brand name to generics when it comes to corn dogs. Now, I will say Pronto Pup prices had not changed at all for the last couple of years, so there may be a little catch-up going on there.
ROSE: OK. Well, take us up to the top of the Ferris wheel and give us the big picture. What is happening with fair prices overall?
HORSLEY: Yeah. The price for a ride on the Ferris field (ph) actually hasn't changed since 2023. It's just kind of circling in place. But the overall cost of living on a stick was up 3.1% this year. That's a smaller price hike than the last couple of years at the fairground. So inflation at the fair is cooling a bit, just as it is with the cost of living overall. However you measure it, though, inflation is still higher than most people would like. Schipper says affordability remains a big concern for a lot of people throughout the year, even if they do splurge a little bit when they're at the state fair.
SCHIPPER: A lot of the people that we talk to are like, you know, when we go to the fair, we're not trying to think about - we can afford this corn dog but not that Pronto Pup, or can we get the big bucket or not? It's kind of a special event. And so people are generally opening their wallets when they get to the fair. But we did have some of those repeat goers saying that it's gotten more expensive, and they just don't go as much as they used to.
HORSLEY: Schipper told me he's actually going back to the fair tomorrow to do some important follow-up research, including a check on the size of those giant turkey legs. And if you want to do some research of your own, the Minnesota State Fair runs through Labor Day.
ROSE: That is NPR's Scott Horsley. Thank you, Scott.
HORSLEY: You're welcome. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. NPR does not offer or accept money for coverage or interviews. Anyone who makes such an offer or request is not an NPR employee and does not represent NPR. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{310:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(80)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(769),o(155),o(176),o(93),o(447),o(254),o(128),o(130),o(754),o(175),o(755),o(255),o(78),o(773)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},782:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(310)}},[[782,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();