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
62% of builders say suppliers raised material costs because of gas prices — and 70% admit they can’t price a new home without guessing what’s next
Seven out of ten U.S. home builders say they cannot put a confident price tag on a new house right now. The reason is brutally...
132,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2026 — Walmart just added 1,000 more, and it’s the only company that didn’t blame AI
When Walmart quietly cut roughly 1,000 technology and corporate employees earlier this year, the announcement barely registered against the avalanche of layoffs rolling through the...
Gas hit $4.53 and the Commerce Department confirmed it’s absorbing all the growth in consumer spending — retail sales ex-gas barely moved
Gas hit $4.53 and the Commerce Department confirmed it’s absorbing all the growth in consumer spending — retail sales ex-gas barely moved A family running...
Brent crude hit $111 a barrel today, its highest price since 2022 — gas sat at $4.51, just 51 cents from the all-time U.S. record
American drivers paid a national average of $4.51 for a gallon of regular unleaded during the first week of June 2026, according to AAA’s daily...
Wholesale prices surged 6% in April, the biggest jump since 2022 — economists say the price hikes haven’t reached your grocery receipt yet
A gallon of diesel cost roughly 13% more in April than it did in March. A dozen eggs at the supermarket? Barely a penny more....
Shelter costs rose 0.6% in April — rent is now 4.3% higher than a year ago, outpacing both wages and overall inflation
A renter earning the average private-sector hourly wage brought home about 3.6% more this April than a year earlier. Over that same stretch, the rent...
Tariff costs finally hit the clothing rack — apparel prices jumped 0.6% in April, the first meaningful increase in years
For most of the past decade, the price of a basic T-shirt or pair of kids’ sneakers barely budged. Cheap overseas production, cutthroat competition among...
Airline fares rose 20.7% in the past year — the steepest annual increase on record, and Spirit Airlines shutting down made it worse
A round-trip flight from Orlando to Chicago cost as little as $120 on Spirit Airlines last spring. Today, with Spirit gone and no ultra-low-cost carrier...
Grocery prices jumped 0.7% in April alone — the sharpest monthly food-at-home increase since early 2023, led by meat, dairy, and coffee
For a few months, the supermarket had started to feel almost normal again. Price tags still stung, but the worst of the post-pandemic grocery shock...
Gas hit $4.50 the same day the CPI showed it’s the biggest driver of inflation — the all-time U.S. record is just 52 cents away
Filling up a midsize sedan cost more than $65 at most stations on the morning of May 12, 2026, the same morning the federal government...
American paychecks shrank in real terms for the first time since 2023 — wages grew 3.6% but prices rose 3.8%
A worker earning the national average hourly wage of $31.27 took home a bigger number on their pay stub in April 2026 than a year...
Household debt hit $18.8 trillion — and the savings rate dropped from 6.2% to 4.0% because every extra dollar goes to gas and groceries
Household debt hit $18.8 trillion – and the savings rate dropped from 6.2% to 4.0% because every extra dollar goes to gas and groceries The...
Gas sat 16 cents from the all-time U.S. record — then Trump rejected Iran’s peace deal and crude shot back above $101
Sixteen cents. That was the gap between the national average price of regular gasoline and the all-time U.S. record when President Trump rejected ceasefire talks...
Household debt hit $18.8 trillion — and Americans are saving less despite earning more, because every extra dollar is going to gas and groceries
The average American worker earned more in early 2026 than a year ago. The average American household also owed more, saved less, and watched a...
Gas just hit $4.55 a gallon — 16 cents below the all-time record — and Iran warned it will launch a “heavy assault” on U.S. ships if the ceasefire breaks
Filling up a tank of gas now costs American drivers more than it has at any point since the summer of 2022. The national average...
Gas hit $4.50 nationally — up 50% since the Iran war started — and the average household is now spending $380 a month just on fuel
Maria Gonzalez fills up her Honda CR-V twice a week. The home health aide drives roughly 80 miles a day across suburban Houston visiting patients,...
Spirit Airlines executives are requesting $10.7 million in “retention bonuses” — while 17,000 workers just lost paychecks and health benefits
Spirit Airlines’ last flight touched down weeks ago. The planes are being auctioned. Roughly 17,000 employees, from flight attendants and gate agents to pilots and...
California gas just hit $7 a gallon in Mono County — the state average crossed $6.11, and two closed refineries mean relief isn’t coming
The Tioga Gas Mart sits at 9,600 feet on the eastern edge of Yosemite, surrounded by granite and thin air. It is also one of...
Gas hit $4.48 a gallon — the average two-car household is now spending $960 a year more on fuel than before the Iran war started
A year ago, filling up a midsize SUV cost about $50. In May 2026, that same fill-up runs north of $75. Do it twice a...
California’s gas just crossed $6.11 on average — some counties hit $7 a gallon — and Newsom is calling it “Trump’s Iran war tax”
Filling up a mid-size sedan in California now costs north of $90. The statewide average price of regular gasoline crossed $6.11 per gallon in late...