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
Record Labor Day gas near $4.14 a gallon squeezes retirees who drive, but relief to about $3.72 is forecast by year-end
The national average price of gasoline hit $4.14 a gallon over Labor Day weekend 2026, the highest the holiday has ever recorded and the first...
Your 2027 Obamacare out-of-pocket maximum jumps to $12,000, up from $10,600, as expired subsidies drive premiums sharply higher
The most an Affordable Care Act marketplace plan can require an individual to pay out of pocket in 2027 is rising to $12,000, up from...
Eggs have tumbled about 30% this year while beef stays near record highs, splitting the grocery bill in two
Grocery shoppers are living through two opposite price stories in the same cart this year. Egg prices are forecast to fall 30.8 percent in 2026...
Peacock raised the price of every plan, but existing subscribers aren’t charged more until a bill on or after September 17
Every Peacock subscription plan now costs more, with the increase already live for new sign-ups and a second, later date built in for people who...
A senior property-tax exemption can trim a homeowner’s yearly bill
Property taxes are the one major homeownership cost that rises automatically with a home’s assessed value, regardless of whether the owner’s income has kept pace,...
Budget billing spreads a household’s seasonal energy costs evenly across the year
A household’s electric or gas bill can swing by hundreds of dollars between a mild spring month and a peak summer or winter one, even...
Many older Americans qualify for SNAP food aid but never apply
A retired household living on Social Security, a small pension, or disability payments often assumes it earns too much, or has too much saved, to...
The Lifeline program cuts the monthly phone or internet bill for low-income households
A landline, mobile, or internet bill doesn’t have to be paid at full price for every eligible low-income household. The Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program...
LIHEAP helps low-income households cover heating and cooling bills
A high heating or cooling bill doesn’t have to come entirely out of a fixed income. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as...
Homeowners can appeal an assessment to cut a property-tax bill that outran the home’s value
More than 40% of properties in the United States are assessed high enough that a formal challenge could shave $100 or more off the annual...
Many states let older homeowners defer property taxes until the home is sold
A homeowner on a fixed income who sees their property tax bill climb faster than their Social Security check has an option that many people...
Tariffs are on track to cost the average family more than $2,500 this year
The Joint Economic Committee’s Democratic staff estimates that tariffs are on pace to cost the average American family more than $2,500 in 2026, a total...
A federal outlook sees food-at-home prices up about 3% in 2026, led by beef and coffee
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest forecast puts the year’s grocery bill on track to climb close to overall food inflation, though the headline number...
Coffee is climbing about 5% while egg prices finally fall this year, splitting the grocery bill
Coffee prices are forecast to keep climbing at close to a 5 percent pace this year, even as egg prices are set to post one...
Tariffs are on track to cost the average U.S. household about $900 this year, quietly squeezing fixed incomes
The federal government’s own tally of what its tariffs cost American households keeps moving, and the latest number is real money for anyone living on...
Trump opened a 300,000-ton duty-free beef window to push down ground beef prices now running about 19% higher
President Trump signed a proclamation on August 26 opening a temporary, 300,000-metric-ton duty-free window for imported lean beef trimmings, aiming to relieve a ground beef...
New Trump tariffs on Canadian goods took effect this month, and the costs are reaching store shelves
A 50% tariff on a broad slate of Canadian goods took effect Aug. 22, reaching supermarket dairy cases, liquor store shelves and furniture showrooms nationwide...
Diesel prices hit record August highs, raising the cost of nearly everything trucked to store shelves
The national average price of on-highway diesel reached $5.652 a gallon for the week of August 24, according to the Energy Information Administration, its sixth...
Airfare, utilities and medical care are climbing fast enough to eat part of this year’s Social Security raise
The 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment that raised Social Security checks starting in January 2026 was calculated using inflation data from a full year earlier, and several...
Shoppers are buying fewer groceries as high prices, weight-loss drugs and smaller food aid shrink the cart
Grocery shoppers bought fewer items in the second half of 2025, and the decline became more pronounced by February 2026, according to retail data tracking...