Cost of Living
Grocery prices, gas prices, utility costs, inflation impacts on everyday expenses, consumer sentiment, and the real-world financial pressures facing households.
Latest in Cost of Living
Utah’s HEAT energy-assistance program opens to the general public November 1, with winter shutoff protection for qualifying households
Utah’s Home Energy Assistance Target program, known as HEAT, opens to the general public on November 1. Households with a member who is 60 or...
Kansas winter utility rules begin November 1 and limit heat disconnections through March 31
Kansas utilities may not cut off heat while the forecast is below 35 degrees, and the Cold Weather Rule that sets that limit starts again...
Trump’s tariffs brought in $25.3 billion in September alone, but only $5.9 billion after refunds
Importers paid $25.3 billion in customs duties in September, the last month of fiscal 2026, but only $5.9 billion remained after refunds, according to Treasury’s...
HealthCare.gov opens November 1, and January 1 coverage requires enrolling by December 15
HealthCare.gov opens for 2027 coverage on November 1. The marketplace’s own deadlines page says anyone who enrolls or changes plans by December 15 can have...
A one-person food stamp household in Hawaii can get up to $496 a month, against $392 in urban Alaska
A one-person household on SNAP, the program still widely called food stamps, can receive up to $496 a month in Hawaii this fiscal year. In...
Trump’s tariffs collected $317.8 billion in customs duties last fiscal year, but Treasury’s books show $173.2 billion after refunds
Customs duties brought in $317.8 billion across fiscal 2026, which ended September 30, but Treasury’s books show only $173.2 billion once refunds are subtracted. The...
Food stamp payments rose October 1 in Georgia, which had about 2.35 million people on SNAP in June
The most food stamps can pay a household went up on October 1, and Georgia had about 2.35 million people in 589,416 households on SNAP...
Wisconsin FoodShare members have 10 days to request replacement benefits for food lost in a storm or outage, and nearly 6,000 QUEST cards lost their PINs
Wisconsin FoodShare members who lose groceries to a storm or a power outage can ask the state to replace the benefits, but only within 10...
Black Hills Energy’s Arkansas gas customers now pay about $6 a month more
Black Hills Energy’s residential gas customers in Arkansas started paying higher rates on October 12. The company says the average household will see its total...
Diesel averaged $6.331 a gallon in September, up from $3.730 a year earlier
Diesel fuel averaged $6.331 a gallon across the United States in September, up from $3.730 a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in...
Beef steaks averaged $12.813 a pound in the August price data
All uncooked beef steaks averaged $12.813 a pound across U.S. cities in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from $12.222 in August...
Hawaii’s SNAP maximum for one person falls from $506 to $496 on October 1
Hawaii’s maximum monthly SNAP benefit for a one-person household fell from $506 to $496 on October 1, the first day of federal fiscal year 2027,...
Federal law bars internet bills from SNAP’s shelter deduction, USDA tells states
Federal law now bars internet bills from the costs SNAP counts when it works out a household’s shelter deduction, and USDA told every state agency...
State heating-aid directors count 4,355,200 Northeast households on heating oil and project they will pay about $2,627 this winter
Heating oil is projected to cost the average Northeast household about $2,627 this winter, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, the group of...
Sliced bacon averaged $6.605 a pound in August, down from $7.208 a year earlier, Bureau of Labor Statistics price data show
Sliced bacon averaged $6.605 a pound across U.S. cities in August, down from $7.208 a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That...
Inflation-adjusted hourly pay fell over the 12 months to August, Labor Department data show, as consumer prices rose faster than wages
Pay lost ground to prices over the past year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says real average hourly earnings, which strip out inflation, fell 0.3%...
New York’s POWER energy rebate sets checks of $100 to $200 for 8.2 million households, and Governor Hochul says mailing runs from September 21 through December
New York’s Protecting Our Wallets Energy Rebate, known as POWER, sets checks of $100, $150 or $200 for qualifying households, and Governor Kathy Hochul’s office...
Pennsylvania’s LIHEAP heating aid season is scheduled to open November 2 with cash grants of $200 to $1,000 and a $49,500 income limit for four people
Pennsylvania’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, is scheduled to open its 2026-27 season on November 2, with one-time cash grants of $200...
USDA says Trump’s dyed-diesel order should mean about $640 million in combined federal and state savings for farmers and ranchers across 224.6 million harvested acres
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on October 5 that President Donald Trump’s new dyed-diesel order should save farmers and ranchers about $640 million in combined...
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun extended the state’s gas tax holiday through November 4, suspending gasoline use and excise taxes worth roughly 60 cents a gallon
Indiana will not collect its gasoline use tax or its gasoline excise tax until November 4, after Gov. Mike Braun signed another 30-day extension of...