The Boston butt off the upper front shoulder, 7 to 10 percent of carcass weight. Workhorse of the pulled-pork BBQ segment and a major sausage input. Live USDA AMS prices for every butt sub-primal, updated every business day.
Source: USDA AMS National Daily Boxed Pork Cutout, Negotiated Sales (LM_PK602). Click any row for the full chart, multi-year history, and seasonal context.
About the pork butt
The Boston butt comes off the upper front shoulder of the pork carcass and carries roughly 7 to 10 percent of carcass weight. The bone-in butt (IMPS 406) and the boneless butt (IMPS 406A) are the dominant lines. The primal also yields a flow of pork trim through cap-and-trim operations when butts are deboned.
Butts are the workhorse of the pulled-pork BBQ segment and a major input into sausage formulations. Demand for butts firms predictably ahead of grilling holidays and softens through the winter, with the strongest seasonal pull running from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Butts are also responsive to chemical lean trim values, since butts can be deboned and trimmed into pork trim if the price relationship favors it. When trim values are firm, more butt flows to trim, the fabricated supply tightens, and bone-in butts firm in turn.
Butt sub-primals print daily in the USDA AMS National Daily Pork Carcass Cutout report (LM_PK602). The 4-down (bone-in) and 4-down (boneless) lines are the headline reads; weight-band variants on the boneless side break out separately for buyers who care about portion size.
Frequently asked
What is the most valuable cut from the pork butt?
Boneless Cellar-trimmed Butt 1 Piece Vacuum-packed is the highest-priced butt sub-primal at $2.34/lb as of 2026-10-13, from the USDA AMS National Daily Boxed Pork Cutout report (LM_PK602).
What's driving pork butt prices today?
Average $1.38/lb across 11 sub-primals Composite is down 3.9% week over week and running 2.5% below its usual level for this time of year.
Are pork butt prices reported by grade?
No. Unlike beef, USDA does not publish a Choice/Select grade split for pork. Each butt sub-primal reports as a single weighted-average daily print on the USDA AMS National Daily Pork Carcass Cutout report (LM_PK602), with weight-band variants where buyers care about portion size.