This Little Grocery Store Is America’s Favorite (Yet Again)

For the fourth time in eight years, a regional supermarket is the favorite stop for grocery shoppers, according to a recent study. And three of the top four retailers are regional supermarkets.

The No. 1 grocer in customer data science firm Dunnhumby’s latest annual Retailer Preference Index also took top honors last year.

Dunnhumby says grocer ranking is the only one to combine financial results with customer perception, which is based on a survey of more than 11,000 U.S. shoppers.

The study looked at the 72 largest retailers in the grocery industry and weighed five factors that drive customer value:

• Price, promotions and rewards
• Quality
• Digital
• Operations
• Speed and convenience

Here are America’s favorite grocery stores, according to Dunnhumby.

H-E-B

This grocery retailer’s rank in:

• 2025: No. 1
• 2024: No. 1

H-E-B has topped Dunnhumby’s list of grocery chains in three of the past four years, and 2025 marks the fourth time it finished first in the past eight years. You can find H-E-B stores in Texas and Mexico — and nowhere else.

Market Basket

This grocery retailer’s rank in:

• 2025: No. 2
• 2024: No. 4

Market Basket‘s roots go back to 1917, when it was a single store known as “The Acre” in Lowell, Massachusetts. The first store under the “Market Basket” name opened in Salem, New Hampshire, in 1975. Market Basket now has 90 stores throughout New England.

Costco

This grocery retailer’s rank in:

• 2025: No. 3
• 2024: No. 3

Costco also finished in the top three again this year, and likely to no one’s surprise. The beloved retailer has secured the loyalty of millions of customers. Costco has more than 600 locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The rest of the top 10

The rest of the top 10 grocery retailers in Dunnhumby’s latest annual ranking are:

• WinCo: No. 4 (which is 10 spots higher than it ranked in 2024)
• Aldi: No. 5 (two spots higher)
• Amazon: No. 6 (four spots lower)
• Trader Joe’s: No. 7 (eight spots higher)
• Sam’s Club: No. 8 (three spots lower)
• Wegmans: No. 9 (three spots lower)
• ShopRite: No. 10 (two spots lower)