What Is The Best-Selling Cereal Brand In The US?

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For many of us, breakfast cereal has become such a regular part of our diet that we may not stop to think just how much of it we really buy. Based on data verified by online career platform Zippia in 2023, around 2.7 billion boxes of cereal are sold every year in the U.S., with annual sales amounting to roughly $20.59 billion. As for the single best-selling brand in the country, that distinction belongs to none other than Cheerios, which has been part of American breakfasts since 1941.

General Mills' Cheerios surpassed all cereals with an estimated 139.1 million boxes sold and annual sales totaling $435.9 million in 2023. Honey Nut Cheerios, the top choice in Mashed's ranking of 22 Cheerios flavors, did pretty well, too — it ranked third in U.S. sales, with 129.3 million boxes sold, raking in $421.7 million in sales. Kellogg's Frosted Flakes placed second in boxes sold with 132.3 million, but earned less than Honey Nut Cheerios, with $412.6 million in annual sales.

Cheerios came out on top in other measures as well. Betting authority VegasInsider analyzed Google search activity for popular cereal brands across a 12-month span from 2024 to 2025, and Cheerios led the pack with an average search volume of 103,120, more than 20% higher than second-ranked Lucky Charms. A 2024 survey by consumer analytics platform CivicScience found that 62% of respondents favored Cheerios, more than any other brand.

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It might be surprising to learn that original Cheerios outpaces the Honey Nut flavor in terms of sales, given the popularity of the sweetened version. In fact, Honey Nut Cheerios pulled in more money than the regular variant once in 2009, so it's not impossible to outsell the decades-long market leader. Sales trends have shifted back to the original, which may be due to consumers seeking out healthier breakfast food options since the mid-2010s.

Original Cheerios contain 2 grams of sugar per 1½ cup serving, with half of that being added sugars. Honey Nut Cheerios, on the other hand, hits you with 12 grams of sugar per serving — all of it added sugar. That discrepancy alone is enough to make anyone reconsider having the latter for breakfast, especially since it can have a more immediate impact on your health than you might expect.

Writer Wil Fulton spent a week eating nothing but cereal for a 2016 piece in Thrillist, and it turns out eating cereal every day can impair your ability to think. A dietician consulted for the story explained that the cognitive issues Fulton experienced during his experiment may have resulted from blood sugar spikes and insufficient nutrition. The amount of sugar in cereal, in general, is a huge problem. A 2021 study published in Nutrients found that breakfast cereals contain an average of 19.9 grams of sugar per 100-gram serving. Original Cheerios contain less than 20% of that amount, making it one of the best options for cold breakfast cereals.