Best Credit Cards for Groceries in 2026: Up to 6% at the Supermarket

6% back on groceries is the highest everyday rate in the US card market, and it is real. It is also capped at $6,000 a year, excludes the three largest food retailers in the country, and sits on a card with a $95 fee from year two. Which card pays you most depends on two numbers you already know: how much you spend on food, and where you buy it.

First: check that your shop qualifies

Before comparing rates, confirm the bonus applies at all. Issuers pay on a merchant’s category code, not on what is in the trolley, and the supermarket categories are narrower than they sound:

• American Express excludes superstores, warehouse clubs, convenience stores and meal-kit services from its US supermarket category, so Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s do not earn the 6% or 4x rates.
• Capital One excludes superstores such as Walmart and Target from its grocery category.
• Chase pays 3x on online grocery purchases on the Sapphire Preferred but excludes Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs by name.

If those are your stores, stop here and read what actually pays at Walmart, Target and Costco, a flat 2% card will usually beat every card on this page for you.

The cards

Amex Blue Cash Preferred: $0 annual fee the first year, then $95.

• 6% at US supermarkets on the first $6,000 each year, then 1%
• 6% on select US streaming services
• 3% at US gas stations and on transit
• 1% elsewhere
• Welcome offer of up to $300 after $3,000 of purchases in six months, and 0% intro APR for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers

The highest grocery rate available, with the tightest ceiling. $6,000 at 6% is $360 a year.

Amex Gold: $325 annual fee.

• 4 points per dollar at US supermarkets on the first $25,000 each year
• 4 points per dollar at restaurants worldwide on the first $50,000 each year
• 3 points on flights booked direct or through Amex Travel, 5 points on prepaid hotels through Amex Travel
• Recurring credits: $10 a month dining, $10 a month Uber Cash, $100 a year Resy, $7 a month Dunkin’, $424 a year in total, all requiring enrollment and none rolling over

A far higher cap than the Blue Cash Preferred, and points rather than cash. It only makes sense if you also spend heavily on restaurants and will actually use the credits.

Amex Blue Cash Everyday: $0 annual fee. 3% at US supermarkets, 3% at US gas stations and 3% on US online retail, each capped at $6,000 a year before dropping to 1%, plus a Disney+ statement credit of up to $84 a year. The no-fee version of the card above, and the simplest choice for moderate grocery spending.

Capital One Savor: $0 annual fee, no foreign transaction fee. 3% at grocery stores, on dining, entertainment and popular streaming services, with no category cap, plus 8% through Capital One Entertainment and 5% on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. The uncapped 3% is the feature that matters here, and it is the reason this card beats the 6% card at high spending levels.

Citi Strata Premier: $95 annual fee. 3 points per dollar at supermarkets, on air travel, hotels, gas and restaurants, plus 10 points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel. The broadest 3x list of any card here, which suits a household that wants one card covering food, fuel and travel together.

Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards: $0 annual fee. 3% in one category you pick, 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, both on the first $2,500 of combined spending each quarter, then 1%. The wholesale club inclusion is unusual. If you hold deposit or investment balances with the bank, its BofA Rewards program, which replaced Preferred Rewards in May 2026, adds a bonus of 10% to 75% depending on tier: 25% from $30,000 in combined balances, 50% from $100,000 and 75% only from $1 million (BofA Rewards tiers). At the 50% tier the 3% category pays 4.5%; only the $1 million tier pushes it above 5%.

Chase Freedom Flex: $0 annual fee. 5% on rotating quarterly categories on up to $1,500 per quarter, with activation required. Grocery stores, excluding Walmart and Target, are a 5% category in Q4 2026 (activate by December 14), but they are not a permanent category, so this is an opportunistic card rather than a grocery card. Our quarterly tracker shows what is live now.

The grocery cards at a glance

The arithmetic: 6% capped versus 3% uncapped

This is the comparison that decides it, and the answer flips as spending rises. Taking the Blue Cash Preferred at 6% on the first $6,000 then 1%, with a $95 fee, against the Savor at a flat uncapped 3% with no fee, on grocery spending alone:

• $300 a month ($3,600 a year). Preferred: $216 less $95 = $121. Savor: $108. Preferred wins, narrowly.
• $500 a month ($6,000). Preferred: $360 less $95 = $265. Savor: $180. Preferred wins clearly. This is the card’s sweet spot, exactly at the cap.
• $800 a month ($9,600). Preferred: $360 plus 1% on the $3,600 above the cap = $396, less $95 = $301. Savor: $288. Still the Preferred, but the gap has nearly closed.
• $1,000 a month ($12,000). Preferred: $360 plus $60 = $420, less $95 = $325. Savor: $360. The no-fee 3% card now wins.

The crossover sits at about $10,250 a year, or roughly $850 a month, in qualifying supermarket spending. Below it, pay the $95. Above it, the uncapped 3% card pays more, which is the opposite of what the headline rates suggest.

The other break-even worth knowing runs the other way. The Preferred’s 6% beats a flat 2% card by 4 percentage points inside the cap, and 4% of $2,375 is $95. So the fee is covered once supermarket spending passes about $2,375 a year, or $200 a month. Below that, a free 2% card is the better card.

Where the Amex Gold fits

The Gold’s 4x on the first $25,000 of supermarket spending is a cap few households will reach, so it behaves like an uncapped card in practice. The question is the $325 fee.

At $500 a month on groceries the Gold earns 24,000 Membership Rewards points a year from that category. Whether that beats the Blue Cash Preferred’s $265 depends entirely on how you redeem: taken as a statement credit at one cent, 24,000 points is $240, and the Gold’s fee swallows it. Transferred to an airline or hotel partner at well above a cent, it is worth considerably more.

The practical answer: the Gold is not a grocery card. It is a food card: 4x on restaurants as well, on a $50,000 cap, whose fee is largely covered by its $424 of recurring credits if you use them. Choose it for the combination, not for the supermarket rate alone. Our Gold vs Blue Cash Preferred comparison runs the numbers side by side.

How we picked and ranked these cards

The rate you actually get, not the headline. Each card is judged on how its issuer codes supermarkets, which decides whether the bonus reaches your shop at all. Net of fees at real spending levels. We ran $300, $500, $800 and $1,000 a month through each card after its annual fee, because the winner changes as spending rises. Caps applied as written: annual on the Amex cards, quarterly on Bank of America and Chase. Points at one cent unless stated, so a points card is never flattered by an optimistic transfer value. Issuer terms as of October 2026. No issuer pays CardRankr, and we earn nothing if you apply.

What to actually do

1. Under $200 a month at the supermarket: skip the fee entirely. A no-annual-fee flat 2% card, or the Blue Cash Everyday at 3%, pays more than a $95 card after fees.
2. $200 to about $850 a month: the Blue Cash Preferred is the highest-paying option, and the 6% on streaming plus 3% on gas and transit are genuine extras rather than filler.
3. Above about $850 a month: an uncapped 3% card pays more. Alternatively, run the Preferred until the $6,000 cap is exhausted, then switch to a flat 2% card for the rest of the year, that combination beats either card alone, at the cost of having to track where you stand.
4. If your stores are superstores or warehouse clubs: none of the above applies. Use a flat-rate card, or the Bank of America card if you bank there, and read the merchant coding guide.
5. If you eat out as much as you cook: compare the Amex Gold and the Capital One Savor on the combined total rather than on groceries alone. See our dining picks.

Details that change the math

• The Amex caps are annual and silent. Nothing tells you when $6,000 has been reached; after that you are earning 1% on food, which is worse than almost any alternative card. Mark the month you expect to hit it.
• The Blue Cash Preferred fee is $0 for the first year only. Year one is a strong deal at any spending level; the decision is really about year two.
• Streaming and transit definitions are issuer lists, not general categories, and they are revised without notice.
• Gift cards bought at a qualifying supermarket normally earn the supermarket rate, which is a legitimate way to extend a bonus category. Issuer terms sometimes exclude them, and gift cards carry their own risks, so it is not worth building a large habit around.
• Interest cancels everything. One month carrying a balance at a rate in the mid-twenties costs more than a year of 6% back on the same amount. If you are carrying debt, look at a 0% APR card instead.

Common questions

Which card pays the most at Costco?

None of the Amex cards here, because Amex excludes warehouse clubs, and in US warehouses Costco only takes Visa credit cards. Among the cards on this page, the Bank of America Customized Cash is the one that pays a bonus at wholesale clubs, at 2%. Our Costco card guide covers the Visa options.

Is the Freedom Flex worth using for groceries right now?

For this quarter, yes. Grocery stores, excluding Walmart and Target, are a 5% category from October 1 to December 31, 2026 on up to $1,500 of combined bonus spending, if you activate by December 14. From January it reverts to 1% unless groceries rotate back in. Our Q4 bonus category tracker has the details.

Which grocery card is best if I also travel abroad?

The Capital One Savor and the Amex Gold charge no foreign transaction fee. The Blue Cash Preferred and Blue Cash Everyday add 2.7% to purchases abroad, so they are domestic cards.

The cap, not the rate, decides

The 6% card wins for the large middle of the market, roughly $200 to $850 a month at a traditional supermarket, and the uncapped 3% no-fee card wins above that, because the cap, not the rate, is the binding constraint. If you shop at Walmart, Target or a warehouse club, none of the headline rates reach you and a flat 2% card is the honest answer.

For the wider field see our cash back round-up and the no-annual-fee picks.

Rates, caps, fees, welcome offers and category definitions above are published terms as of October 2026 and can change without notice. Confirm with the issuer before applying.

Where the figures come from

• Blue Cash Preferred Card: rates and terms — American Express
• Blue Cash Everyday Card: rates and terms — American Express
• Savor Rewards: card terms — Capital One
• Citi Strata Premier: card terms — Citi
• Customized Cash Rewards: categories and exclusions — Bank of America
• Chase Freedom Flex: current bonus categories — Chase