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
Egg prices have fallen 32% from their 2025 peak even as beef and coffee hit records
American grocery shoppers are catching a break on eggs, but the relief stops at the dairy aisle. The average retail price of a dozen Grade...
Walmart and Sam’s Club cut prices on thousands of summer grocery and grilling items this month
Walmart and Sam’s Club are rolling back prices on thousands of summer grocery and grilling products this July, a move that lands while food-at-home costs...
New York seniors can now knock up to 65% off their home’s assessed value where their town opts in
New York seniors who own their homes now have a path to cut the taxable value of their property by as much as 65 percent,...
Fresh tomato prices are up 32% from a year ago
American grocery shoppers are paying sharply more for fresh tomatoes than they were a year ago, with the 12‑month price increase hitting 32.0 percent in...
One in six U.S. households is now behind on utility bills
Roughly one in six U.S. households reported being unable to pay an energy bill in full over the past year, according to the Census Bureau’s...
Minimum wage rose July 1 in more than 20 cities and states, reaching $18.40 an hour in Washington, D.C.
Low-wage workers in Washington, D.C., received the largest single-city minimum wage in the country when their hourly floor rose to $18.40 on July 1, 2026....
Ford is recalling 2022–2026 Broncos because the fender flares can detach at highway speeds
Ford is pulling back 2022 through 2026 Broncos after federal safety regulators flagged a defect that allows front fender flares to separate from the vehicle...
Summer electric bills are set to hit a record, up 10.5% to about $792 as cooling costs climb
American households are heading into a summer of record electricity costs, with bills projected to average about $792 for the season, a 10.5% increase driven...
Drivers in Hawaii and California pay over $5.40 a gallon as the national average nears $3.83
Motorists in Hawaii and California are paying more than $5.40 a gallon for regular gasoline, a premium of roughly $1.57 above the national average that...
Gas is under $3.50 a gallon in nine states, cheapest in Indiana at $3.12
Drivers in nine states are paying less than $3.50 a gallon for regular gasoline, with Indiana averaging $3.12, the lowest in the country. The price...
Summer air-conditioning bills will hit records, with Arizona households projected near $1,060
Arizona households that depend on air conditioning to survive triple-digit summers are on track to pay roughly $1,060 in total cooling costs this season, a...
New York’s cooling program pays up to $800 toward a window air conditioner through August 31
Low-income New Yorkers who depend on the state’s cooling assistance program to survive summer heat now face a narrowing window to get help. The Cooling...
Challenge your home’s tax assessment, and many owners who appeal get their bill lowered
Property owners in major U.S. cities who formally contest their tax assessments often walk away with lower bills, and the appeals process itself is more...
$73.82 buys the most expensive Fourth of July cookout on record, with beef at an all-time high
American families planning backyard barbecues for the Fourth of July face the steepest grocery tab ever recorded. At $73.82 for a standard cookout spread, the...
$16,800 a year is the new cost of center-based infant care, up from $14,100 in 2022
Families with infants are now paying $16,800 a year for center-based child care, a jump from $14,100 recorded in 2022. That $2,700 annual increase, roughly...
$1,208 a week is Washington’s new top unemployment check for claims filed July 5 or later
Workers filing new unemployment claims in Washington state starting July 5, 2026, can receive up to $1,208 per week, the highest weekly benefit the state...
Ticketmaster must cap its service fees at 15% and show the full price up front under a new settlement
Concert fans buying tickets at Live Nation amphitheaters will see service fees capped at 15 percent of the ticket’s face value, and the full price...
School supplies cost 7.3% more this year, and 39% of parents say they cannot afford the full list
Families heading into the August 2025 back-to-school rush are paying 7.3 percent more for supplies than they did a year ago, according to Bureau of...
17.94 cents a kilowatt-hour is a record for U.S. power, and summer bills will run 8.5% higher
American electricity customers are heading into summer 2026 facing the highest average retail power price ever recorded in federal data: 17.94 cents per kilowatt-hour across...
Strawberries cost 12.4% more this Fourth of July after a spring frost damaged Florida’s plants
American shoppers picking up a pint of fresh strawberries for their Fourth of July celebrations are paying 12.4 percent more than they did a year...