CHICAGO (WGN) – Pumpkin spice, as it turns out, comes at a price.

With fall officially upon us, many Americans are eager for the return of cooler temperatures, stunning foliage and the return of the season’s foods and drinks.

However, consumers are shelling out a lot more money for the iconic pumpkin spice fall flavor.

A study by LendingTree revealed that, on average, pumpkin-flavored products cost 7.4% more than non-pumpkin alternatives.

Believe it or not, that’s actually the lowest “pumpkin spice tax” in the history of LendingTree’s study, below 14.1% in 2022 and 8.8% in 2020. The study evaluated 116 grocery store and coffee retailer products, everything from protein bars to granola to scented candles to, yes, pumpkin spice lattes.

What product has the largest gap in pumpkin and non-pumpkin pricing?

According to the study, it appears Target’s Favorite Day monster trail mix is the culprit.

At the time the study was conducted, Favorite Day monster trail mix cost $4.00 for 14 ounces, or $0.29 per ounce.

The Favorite Day pumpkin spice trail mix, on the other hand, costs $5.49 for 10 ounces, or $0.55 per ounce, which means consumers are paying 92.2% more for the pumpkin spice product.

Coming in second place is Target’s Chobani oat milk. While the original oat milk costs $0.11 per ounce, the pumpkin spice oat milk costs $0.17 per ounce, a markup of 56.6%.

On the other side, Trader Joe’s cookie mix appears to have the biggest negative pumpkin spice tax. The study said you’ll likely pay $3.99 for the pumpkin and spice snickerdoodle cookie mix ($0.23 an ounce), but you’ll pay $4.49 for the “everything but the kitchen sink” cookie mix ($0.30 an ounce), meaning the pumpkin spice version costs nearly a quarter less than the regular one.

What about the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks?

Since you asked, let’s take a look at the price difference between a regular caffe latte and a pumpkin spiced latte at Starbucks.

According to the study, a 16-ounce (sorry, Grande) caffe latte and iced caffe latte each cost $5.95 ($0.37 an ounce). Meanwhile, a 16-ounce pumpkin spice latte will cost you around $7.25 ($0.45 an ounce), while an iced pumpkin spice latte will wind up costing around $7.45 ($0.47 an ounce).

This means a pumpkin spice latte costs 21.8% more than a regular or iced caffe latte, while an iced pumpkin spice latte costs 25.2% more than a regular or iced caffe latte.