Every Fresh, Frozen, Canned and Dried Fruit USDA Prices, Run Through One Transparent Formula
Credit: Daily Vitality
Most "healthiest fruit" lists ask you to take someone's word for it. Blueberries are usually near the top, apples get a nostalgic nod, and something tropical shows up to keep things interesting. What you rarely get is a reason, a number you can check, or any sense of what that fruit costs once it's in your cart.
We wanted to answer the question you actually face in the produce aisle, the freezer case and the canned-fruit shelf: which fruit gives you the most nutrition for the money you spend? So we took every fruit product the U.S. Department of Agriculture prices, 51 of them across fresh, frozen, canned and dried forms, and scored each one out of 100 on what a normal serving contains. Then we divided that score by USDA's average price for the same serving.
The countdown below runs from #51 to #1, ordered by points per dollar, with every fruit that scores under 40 placed below the ones that clear that line. Each entry carries a small scorecard so you can see exactly where its points came from. There's a full results table near the end, and juice gets its own table, because a glass of juice and a piece of fruit are not the same purchase.
Every fruit here was scored with the Daily Vitality Whole Food Score, version 1.0, a single formula we built to compare any single-ingredient food on one scale. It looks at one standard serving, which for fruit is USDA's cup equivalent: one cup of fresh, frozen or canned fruit, or half a cup of dried fruit. The score has four parts that add up to 100.
Priority nutrients (45 points) covers eight nutrients that matter most for adults over 40: fiber, protein, potassium, calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and folate. Each one earns credit up to half of its Daily Value per serving, so no single standout can carry a food. Breadth (25 points) counts how many of 21 vitamins and minerals reach at least 10% of the Daily Value, which is the level FDA allows a label to call a "good source" under federal labeling rules.
Limiters (20 points) reward low sodium, added sugars and saturated fat, using FDA's own scale where 5% of the Daily Value or less counts as low and 20% or more counts as high. Natural fruit sugar is not penalized. Form (10 points) gives full credit to fruit with nothing added and half credit to fruit packed in syrup or dried with added sugar.
Here is the honest part. Fruit is naturally very low in protein, calcium, vitamin D and B12, which are four of the eight priority nutrients, so even the best fruit tops out in the mid-40s on a scale designed to compare everything from broccoli to yogurt. Every plain fruit also collects the full 30 points for Limiters and Form. That means a 44 is an excellent fruit score, and the real race happens inside a narrow band.
Prices come from the USDA Economic Research Service, which converts retail scanner data into the cost of one edible cup equivalent after removing peels, pits and cores. These are 2023 U.S. averages, published in December 2025, with no inflation adjustment, so your store's 2026 price will likely be higher. ERS also notes that its price years shouldn't be compared with each other, so we don't report price changes over time.
To keep a cheap fruit with little in it from winning on price alone, a fruit has to score at least 40 to compete on value. Nutrient values come from USDA FoodData Central, matched to the exact form ERS prices, with one record per fruit. Where a newer USDA record left a vitamin blank, we filled it from the older USDA record for the same fruit rather than counting it as zero.
You may have seen a different ranking from a 2014 study in the CDC's journal Preventing Chronic Disease, which scored produce per 100 calories. That approach rewards the lowest-calorie foods almost automatically, which is why citrus and berries landed in its bottom half. We score per serving instead, because a serving is how you actually eat fruit and the unit USDA prices it in.
Canned sweet cherries in syrup are a lovely holiday-baking staple, but they are the most expensive cup of fruit USDA prices. Packed in heavy syrup and drained, they lose half their Form points and all of their added-sugar points, and they reach 10% of the Daily Value only for copper.
Whole Food Score: 25/100 | Priority 3.8 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $4.28 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 5.8 What drove it: The highest price in the set plus a full syrup penalty.
Fresh raspberries carry more fiber per cup than any other fresh fruit we scored, about a third of a day's Daily Value in a 145-gram cup. They miss the 40-point line by a single point, and at $2.65 a cup they are the most expensive fresh fruit on the list.
Whole Food Score: 39/100 | Priority 6.5 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $2.65 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 14.7 What drove it: Outstanding fiber (33.7% DV), but only vitamin C and manganese clear 10%.
Del Monte's Bartlett pears in heavy syrup list 11.7 grams of added sugar per 100 grams, which works out to nearly half a day's added-sugar Daily Value in a drained cup. The pears themselves still bring decent fiber, but only copper reaches the 10% mark.
Whole Food Score: 24/100 | Priority 3.0 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $1.57 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 15.3 What drove it: Syrup costs it 10 points; one nutrient clears 10% DV.
Syrup-packed apricots actually reach the 10% line on three nutrients, vitamin A, vitamin E and copper, more than most canned fruit. The heavy syrup still pulls the score down to 27, and the price is the second-highest among canned fruits.
Whole Food Score: 27/100 | Priority 3.8 | Breadth 3.6 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $1.73 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 15.6 What drove it: Solid breadth for a canned fruit, offset by the syrup.
Fruit cocktail mixes peaches, pears, grapes, pineapple and cherries, and Del Monte's heavy-syrup version lists 10.9 grams of added sugar per 100 grams. The mix reaches 10% of the Daily Value for copper and manganese only.
Whole Food Score: 25/100 | Priority 2.6 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $1.57 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 15.9 What drove it: Low priority-nutrient density plus the syrup penalty.
Del Monte's sliced peaches in heavy syrup list 16 grams of added sugar per half-cup serving on the label. In a full drained cup, that's half of the day's added-sugar Daily Value, which zeroes out the added-sugar points before the fruit gets a chance to shine.
Whole Food Score: 25/100 | Priority 2.5 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $1.50 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 16.7 What drove it: Added sugars at 50% DV per drained cup.
Dried papaya is almost always sugar-infused. USDA's own FoodData Central record for dried papaya is built from 85 grams of raw papaya plus 15 grams of granulated sugar, and Setton Farms lists 43.3 grams of added sugar per 100 grams. It keeps some magnesium and potassium, but only vitamin C reaches 10%.
Whole Food Score: 26/100 | Priority 4.6 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $1.26 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 20.6 What drove it: Added sugar costs it 10 points.
Blueberries top plenty of "healthiest" lists, usually for their antioxidants, which our score deliberately leaves out because no reliable public database measures them. On the nutrients we can measure, a fresh cup reaches 10% of the Daily Value for vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese.
Whole Food Score: 36/100 | Priority 2.6 | Breadth 3.6 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.73 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 20.8 What drove it: Three good-source nutrients at a premium fresh-berry price.
Dole's pineapple chunks in heavy syrup list 10.6 grams of added sugar per 100 grams. Compare that with the same fruit canned in its own juice at #22: the syrup version scores 27, the juice-packed version 39.
Whole Food Score: 27/100 | Priority 2.7 | Breadth 4.8 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $1.24 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 21.8 What drove it: Good breadth for canned fruit, undone by the syrup.
Most dried pineapple on store shelves is sweetened, and Setton Farms lists 46.7 grams of added sugar per 100 grams. A half-cup still reaches 10% of the Daily Value for vitamin C, B6, copper and manganese, but the sugar costs it 10 points.
Whole Food Score: 28/100 | Priority 2.8 | Breadth 4.8 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $1.23 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 22.8 What drove it: Four good-source nutrients, minus a full added-sugar penalty.
USDA's dried mango record is the sweetened kind, and Setton Farms lists 26.7 grams of added sugar per 100 grams. Unsweetened dried mango does exist from several brands, and it would score closer to 39 because it keeps the five good-source nutrients without the sugar penalty.
Whole Food Score: 29/100 | Priority 2.6 | Breadth 6.0 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $1.27 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 22.9 What drove it: Five good-source nutrients, held back by added sugar.
Fresh apricots have a short season and a price to match: $1.49 per cup equivalent, among the higher fresh-fruit prices. A cup reaches 10% of the Daily Value for vitamin A and copper, and the score lands at 36.
Whole Food Score: 36/100 | Priority 3.2 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.49 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 24.2 What drove it: Two good-source nutrients at a seasonal price.
Packed in fruit juice instead of syrup, fruit cocktail keeps its full Limiter and Form points and scores 35, ten points above the syrup version at #47. The nutrient profile is otherwise modest, with copper and manganese the only nutrients at 10%.
Whole Food Score: 35/100 | Priority 2.6 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.43 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 24.4 What drove it: No added sugar; modest nutrients.
Frozen blueberries cost about 34 cents less per cup than fresh. Their USDA record shows slightly lower vitamin C and manganese than the fresh one, leaving vitamin K as the only nutrient above 10%, though they edge out fresh on fiber.
Whole Food Score: 34/100 | Priority 2.6 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.39 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 24.5 What drove it: Lower price than fresh, one good-source nutrient.
Juice-packed peaches score 34, nine points above their syrup-packed cousins at #46, and land at nearly the same score as fresh peaches. Copper is the only nutrient that reaches 10% per cup.
Whole Food Score: 34/100 | Priority 3.2 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.34 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 25.3 What drove it: Full Form and Limiter points; one good-source nutrient.
A frozen berry blend of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries scores 38, higher than frozen strawberries or frozen blueberries alone. Fiber reaches 22% of the Daily Value per cup, and vitamin C, vitamin K and copper all clear 10%.
Whole Food Score: 38/100 | Priority 4.8 | Breadth 3.6 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.47 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 25.8 What drove it: Blackberries and raspberries lift the blend's fiber.
A cup of fresh sweet cherries reaches 10% of the Daily Value for vitamin C and copper, with fiber at about 12%. At $1.36 a cup, cherries are a seasonal splurge more than a value play.
Whole Food Score: 36/100 | Priority 3.4 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.36 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 26.5 What drove it: Two good-source nutrients at a mid-range price.
USDA builds its frozen peach record from raw peaches, so the frozen and fresh versions score within a point of each other. The difference in ranking comes almost entirely from price: $1.24 a cup frozen versus 87 cents fresh.
Whole Food Score: 33/100 | Priority 2.3 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.24 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 26.5 What drove it: Fresh-peach nutrition at a higher price.
Juice-packed pears keep a respectable 14% of the Daily Value for fiber per cup and score ten points higher than syrup-packed pears. As with most canned fruit, copper is the only nutrient above the 10% line.
Whole Food Score: 34/100 | Priority 3.0 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.26 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 27.0 What drove it: No added sugar; one good-source nutrient.
A cup equivalent of grapefruit sections weighs 210 grams, one of the larger fruit servings, and delivers 73% of the Daily Value for vitamin C, plus vitamin A and pantothenic acid above 10%. The price, $1.32 a cup after peel and membrane are removed, keeps it out of the top tier.
Whole Food Score: 38/100 | Priority 4.1 | Breadth 3.6 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.32 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 28.8 What drove it: Three good-source nutrients; only 49% of what you pay for is edible.
Fresh plums score 32 and are one of only three products in the ranking where none of the 21 vitamins and minerals reaches 10% of the Daily Value in a cup. Dried into prunes, the same fruit climbs all the way to #4.
Whole Food Score: 32/100 | Priority 2.4 | Breadth 0.0 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.03 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 31.1 What drove it: No nutrient clears 10% DV per cup.
Frozen strawberries score exactly the same as fresh, 36, with 69% of the Daily Value for vitamin C per cup and manganese above 10%. They cost about 10 cents more per cup than fresh at the 2023 national average.
Whole Food Score: 36/100 | Priority 3.3 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.15 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 31.4 What drove it: Strong vitamin C, modest everything else.
Dried cranberries look like a bargain at 65 cents a cup equivalent, the cheapest dried fruit USDA prices. But they are sweetened: Setton Farms lists 66.7 grams of added sugar per 100 grams, which is three-quarters of the day's added-sugar Daily Value in a half-cup. No vitamin or mineral reaches 10%.
Whole Food Score: 21/100 | Priority 1.2 | Breadth 0.0 | Limiters 15 | Form 5 Price: $0.65 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 32.4 What drove it: Added sugar at 75% DV and almost no measurable nutrients.
Juice-packed canned apricots outscore fresh apricots (38 versus 36) and cost 35 cents less per cup. Fiber reaches 14% of the Daily Value, and vitamin A, vitamin C and copper all clear 10%.
Whole Food Score: 38/100 | Priority 3.9 | Breadth 3.6 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.14 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 33.4 What drove it: Three good-source nutrients in a full 245-gram can serving.
Honeydew delivers about 30% of the Daily Value for vitamin C per cup, but nothing else reaches the 10% line. More than half of what you pay for is rind and seeds, which is part of why a cup costs about a dollar.
Whole Food Score: 34/100 | Priority 3.0 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.02 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 33.4 What drove it: One good-source nutrient; 46% edible yield.
A cup of fresh strawberries delivers 96% of the Daily Value for vitamin C, along with manganese above 10%. Because the score counts vitamin C once, as one of 21 nutrients, that impressive number earns the same breadth credit as a fruit that barely clears 10%.
The 2023 national average hides real seasonal swings, which our look at produce prices month by month tracks in detail.
Whole Food Score: 36/100 | Priority 3.6 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.05 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 34.4 What drove it: Excellent vitamin C, modest everything else.
Fresh peaches score 34, with copper the only nutrient above 10% per cup and fiber at about 8%. At 87 cents a cup, they sit in the middle of the price range.
Whole Food Score: 34/100 | Priority 2.4 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.87 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 38.9 What drove it: One good-source nutrient at a moderate price.
Deglet Noor dates score 38, with fiber at 21% of the Daily Value per half-cup and potassium just over 10%. They have the third-highest priority-nutrient score of any dried fruit but reach the good-source line on only two nutrients.
Whole Food Score: 38/100 | Priority 5.5 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.97 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 39.0 What drove it: Strong fiber; narrow breadth.
Nectarines score a point above fresh peaches, reaching 10% of the Daily Value for niacin and copper. At the same 87-cent price, that extra point nudges them ahead on value.
Whole Food Score: 35/100 | Priority 2.3 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.87 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 40.3 What drove it: Two good-source nutrients at a moderate price.
Canned pineapple in its own juice scores 39, a point above fresh pineapple, because a full 245-gram can serving pushes five nutrients over the 10% line: vitamin C, thiamin, B6, copper and manganese. It misses the value list by one point.
Whole Food Score: 39/100 | Priority 3.3 | Breadth 6.0 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.93 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 41.9 What drove it: Five good-source nutrients, no added sugar.
Fresh Bartlett pears deliver 18% of the Daily Value for fiber per cup, among the highest of the fresh fruits. Only copper reaches 10%, which keeps the score at 34, but the 77-cent price keeps pears competitive.
Whole Food Score: 34/100 | Priority 3.2 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.77 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 43.9 What drove it: High fiber, narrow breadth, low price.
A cup of red seedless grapes reaches 10% of the Daily Value for vitamin K and copper. Fiber is under 5%, and the score lands at 35, but grapes are one of the cheaper fresh fruits at 77 cents a cup.
Whole Food Score: 35/100 | Priority 2.2 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.77 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 45.2 What drove it: Two good-source nutrients at a low price.
Fresh mango delivers 18% of the Daily Value for folate and 47% for vitamin C per cup, plus copper above 10%. It scores 38, ten points higher than the sweetened dried version, and costs 75 cents a cup.
Whole Food Score: 38/100 | Priority 4.6 | Breadth 3.6 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.75 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 50.8 What drove it: Highest folate of any fresh fruit we scored.
Raisins are the cheapest unsweetened dried fruit on the list at 72 cents per half-cup. They reach 15% of the Daily Value for potassium, plus B6 and copper above 10%, and score 38.
Whole Food Score: 38/100 | Priority 4.5 | Breadth 3.6 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.72 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 53.1 What drove it: Potassium plus a low price.
USDA's current record for unsweetened applesauce includes added vitamin C, so a cup shows 119% of the Daily Value. Our method counts fortification the way you buy it. Copper is the only other nutrient above 10%, and the score is 35.
Whole Food Score: 35/100 | Priority 2.4 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.65 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 53.6 What drove it: Added vitamin C at a low price.
Fresh papaya delivers 95% of the Daily Value for vitamin C and 13% for folate per cup. At 65 cents a cup equivalent, it's one of the best buys among fruits just below the 40-point line.
Whole Food Score: 37/100 | Priority 4.2 | Breadth 2.4 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.65 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 56.9 What drove it: Strong vitamin C and folate at a low price.
Apples are the fourth-cheapest fresh fruit at 50 cents a cup, but a 110-gram cup equivalent doesn't push any of the 21 vitamins and minerals to 10% of the Daily Value. Fiber comes in at about 8%. If you're curious how the whole fruit stacks up against what's in your glass, our cider, juice and whole apple comparison runs the numbers.
Whole Food Score: 31/100 | Priority 1.5 | Breadth 0.0 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.50 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 61.8 What drove it: Low price; no nutrient reaches 10% DV per cup.
A cup of cantaloupe reaches 10% of the Daily Value for vitamin A, vitamin C and copper. At 58 cents a cup, even after half the melon's weight goes to rind and seeds, it's one of the better values below the line.
Whole Food Score: 36/100 | Priority 2.9 | Breadth 3.6 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.58 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 61.9 What drove it: Three good-source nutrients at a low price.
Fresh pineapple is the third-cheapest fruit USDA prices, at 48 cents a cup, and delivers 108% of the Daily Value for vitamin C. B6, copper and manganese also reach 10%, which makes it the highest-value fruit below the 40-point line after watermelon.
Whole Food Score: 38/100 | Priority 2.9 | Breadth 4.8 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.48 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 79.7 What drove it: Four good-source nutrients at a very low price.
Watermelon is the cheapest fruit USDA prices, at 26 cents a cup equivalent, even though about half of every melon you carry home is rind. On price alone it would rank second. But a cup reaches 10% of the Daily Value for only one nutrient, vitamin C, and fiber is about 2%, so it scores 33 and falls below our 40-point line.
Whole Food Score: 33/100 | Priority 2.0 | Breadth 1.2 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.26 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 127.9 What drove it: Lowest price in the set, but only one good-source nutrient.
Everything from here to #1 scores 40 or higher, the minimum a fruit needs to compete on value in this series. Just 11 of the 51 fruit products made it: three dried fruits, two citrus fruits, kiwi, pomegranate, three forms of blackberries and raspberries, and one familiar yellow fruit at the very top.
Fresh blackberries score 42, with fiber at 27% of the Daily Value per cup and vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, copper and manganese all above 10%. At $2.28 a cup, they're the most expensive fruit on the value list.
Whole Food Score: 42/100 | Priority 6.2 | Breadth 6.0 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $2.28 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 18.5 What drove it: Five good-source nutrients and strong fiber; high price.
Frozen raspberries tie for the highest score of any fruit, 44, and cost 60 cents less per cup than fresh. Seven nutrients reach the 10% line, including folate, vitamin C, copper and manganese, and fiber is 23% of the Daily Value. The frozen and fresh USDA records differ slightly, which is enough to tip folate and copper over 10% in the frozen version; treat the gap as a measurement difference rather than proof that freezing improves the fruit.
Whole Food Score: 44/100 | Priority 6.1 | Breadth 8.3 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $2.05 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 21.4 What drove it: Seven good-source nutrients; still a premium price.
A cup of pomegranate arils delivers 22% of the Daily Value for fiber and 15% for folate, plus about 5% for protein, more than most fruit, along with vitamin C, vitamin K, pantothenic acid and copper above 10%. The $1.51 price reflects that only about 56% of a whole pomegranate is edible seeds.
Whole Food Score: 42/100 | Priority 6.2 | Breadth 6.0 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.51 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 27.8 What drove it: Fiber, folate and five good-source nutrients.
Frozen blackberries tie at 44 with frozen raspberries and prunes, and win the tie on priority nutrients, which makes them the highest-scoring fruit in the ranking. A cup brings 27% of the Daily Value for fiber, 80% for manganese, 25% for vitamin K and 13% for folate, and costs 72 cents less than fresh.
Whole Food Score: 44/100 | Priority 6.6 | Breadth 7.1 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.56 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 28.3 What drove it: The highest priority score among fresh and frozen fruit.
Kiwi reaches 10% of the Daily Value on six nutrients: vitamin C (114%), vitamin K (59%), copper, vitamin E, folate and potassium. It scores 43, one of the highest totals, but at $1.44 a cup it sits mid-pack on value.
Whole Food Score: 43/100 | Priority 5.8 | Breadth 7.1 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.44 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 29.9 What drove it: Six good-source nutrients, including folate and potassium.
Dried figs earn the highest priority-nutrient score of any fruit we measured, 7.3 out of 45. A half-cup delivers 26% of the Daily Value for fiber and reaches 10% for magnesium, potassium, copper and manganese, a mineral profile few fresh fruits match.
Fiber is a big part of this story, and our fiber-per-calorie ranking of 50 foods shows where figs sit among beans, grains and vegetables.
Whole Food Score: 42/100 | Priority 7.3 | Breadth 4.8 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.39 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 30.3 What drove it: Fiber, magnesium and potassium together.
Dried apricots score 41 and outscore fresh apricots by five points. A half-cup reaches 10% of the Daily Value for potassium (16%), vitamin A, vitamin E, niacin and copper, with fiber at 17%, and costs 25 cents less per cup equivalent than fresh.
Whole Food Score: 41/100 | Priority 5.3 | Breadth 6.0 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.24 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 33.1 What drove it: Potassium and five good-source nutrients.
Prunes tie for the top score at 44. A half-cup brings 42% of the Daily Value for vitamin K, 19% for fiber and 14% for potassium, plus riboflavin, niacin, B6, copper and manganese above 10%: seven nutrients in all. They're one of the clearest cases where drying a fruit, without adding sugar, moves it way up the list.
Whole Food Score: 44/100 | Priority 5.6 | Breadth 8.3 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $1.29 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 34.0 What drove it: Seven good-source nutrients; best value of the dried fruits above the line.
A cup equivalent of clementine segments, about 210 grams, delivers 114% of the Daily Value for vitamin C and 13% for folate, with thiamin and copper also above 10%. Clementines score exactly 40 and make the value list at 95 cents a cup.
Whole Food Score: 40/100 | Priority 5.3 | Breadth 4.8 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.95 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 42.0 What drove it: Vitamin C and folate at a moderate price.
A cup of navel orange sections delivers 122% of the Daily Value for vitamin C, 13% for fiber and 12% for folate, with thiamin and copper also above 10%. Oranges score 40 and, at 86 cents a cup, are the second-best value of any fruit that clears the line.
For a different angle on the same nutrient, our ranking of vitamin C foods per calorie puts citrus up against peppers and greens.
Whole Food Score: 40/100 | Priority 5.1 | Breadth 4.8 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.86 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 46.3 What drove it: Vitamin C, folate and fiber at under a dollar.
Bananas win, and not by a little. At 31 cents a cup equivalent, they're the second-cheapest fruit USDA prices, and they score 43, tied for the second-highest total in the ranking. What makes them remarkable isn't one standout nutrient but how many clear the 10% line at once: potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, B6, pantothenic acid, copper and manganese. That gives bananas 136.5 points per dollar, nearly three times the next fruit on the value list.
Ripeness changes a banana's texture and sweetness in ways the score doesn't capture, and our look at bananas from green to spotted walks through what shifts along the way.
Whole Food Score: 43/100 | Priority 4.2 | Breadth 8.3 | Limiters 20 | Form 10 Price: $0.31 per cup equivalent (2023 U.S. average, USDA ERS) | Points per dollar: 136.5 What drove it: Seven good-source nutrients at the second-lowest price in the set.
Best score: frozen blackberries, at 44, winning a three-way tie with frozen raspberries and prunes on priority nutrients. Best value: fresh bananas, at 43 points and 31 cents a cup, for 136.5 points per dollar. Cheapest, but fails the guardrail: watermelon, at 26 cents a cup and a score of 33. The broader pattern is just as useful: plain frozen, canned-in-juice and unsweetened dried fruit hold their own against fresh, while syrup and added sugar cost a fruit roughly 10 points.
If you like seeing the same math applied to a whole shopping trip, our analysis of which grocery stores offer the best nutrition per dollar takes it store by store.
Ranks 1 to 11 score 40 or higher and are ordered by points per dollar; ranks 12 to 51 score under 40 and follow in the same order.
We scored 100% juice with the same formula on a one-cup (8-ounce) serving but kept it out of the main ranking, because juice is a different product from the fruit it came from. The formula as it stands has no rule for juice losing fiber or concentrating fruit sugar, so treat these scores as a measurement of the vitamins and minerals in the glass, not a verdict on juice versus whole fruit. Frozen concentrate prices are per reconstituted cup.
One result stands out: ready-to-drink pineapple juice scores 41, three points higher than a cup of fresh pineapple. That's because a full 248-gram glass clears the 10% line on six nutrients. It's a good reminder that a score measures what's in a serving, not everything that matters about how you eat it.
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The Whole Food Score is built to compare every whole food on one scale, and four of its eight priority nutrients (protein, calcium, vitamin D and B12) are nutrients fruit barely contains. Every plain fruit earns the full 30 points for low sodium, sugar, fat and minimal processing, then competes for the remaining points. A score in the low 40s is the top of the range for fruit.
A fruit has to score at least 40 to compete on points per dollar, so cheap foods with little in them don't win on price alone. Watermelon scores 33 because a cup reaches 10% of the Daily Value for vitamin C only.
In our results, frozen fruit held its own. Frozen blackberries and raspberries both scored 44, higher than fresh, and frozen strawberries tied fresh at 36. Frozen berries were also cheaper per cup than fresh in three of four cases. Small differences between USDA's fresh and frozen records can move a nutrient across the 10% line, so read close gaps as measurement differences.
It does, and the packing liquid decides a lot. Every fruit canned in its own juice scored 34 to 39, while every syrup-packed fruit scored 24 to 27. Labels from Del Monte, Dole and Kroger show 10 to 12.5 grams of added sugar per 100 grams in heavy syrup.
Unsweetened dried fruit did well: prunes, dried figs and dried apricots all cleared 40, and raisins and dates scored 38. Sweetened dried fruit did not. Dried cranberries, papaya, pineapple and mango all carry added sugar on their labels and scored 21 to 29.
The score caps each priority nutrient at half its Daily Value and counts vitamin C once in Breadth, as one of 21 vitamins and minerals. That design keeps one standout nutrient from carrying a fruit, so an orange's 122% of the Daily Value earns the same breadth credit as a fruit at 11%.
Juice is a different product from whole fruit, and version 1.0 of the formula has no rule for the fiber juice loses. Scoring it in a separate table keeps the main ranking about fruit you eat, while still showing what's in the glass.
They are USDA's 2023 national averages, published in December 2025, which is the newest data available. We don't adjust them for inflation, so prices at your store in 2026 will likely be higher, and the relative order is more useful than any single number.
No. USDA's price data excludes organic products, so every price here reflects conventional produce.
A serving is how people actually eat fruit, and it's the exact unit USDA prices in, so nutrition and cost line up. Per-calorie scoring tends to favor the lowest-calorie foods automatically, which is why it ranked citrus and berries low in the CDC's 2014 powerhouse study.
Every value comes from USDA FoodData Central, matched to the form USDA prices. When a newer USDA record left a vitamin blank, we used the older USDA record for the same fruit instead of counting it as zero, and added-sugar figures for syrup-packed and sweetened dried fruit come from named national-brand labels.
