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
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...
Store-brand grocery sales hit a record as families trade down to fight food inflation
Private-label grocery sales climbed to a record $282.8 billion in 2025, as households increasingly swapped name-brand staples for store-brand versions to soften years of elevated...
Electricity bills are set to rise across 13 states after a regional power auction cleared at its price cap
Electricity bills are working their way higher across a swath of the eastern United States after the grid operator PJM Interconnection’s latest capacity auction cleared...
Kroger is slashing prices across thousands of items to chase Walmart and Costco
Kroger has cut prices by about 2% across its stores as new CEO Greg Foran pushes what the company is calling its biggest round of...
Record August gas prices are quietly swallowing much of this year’s Social Security raise for retirees who drive
The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was running about $4.09 in the final week of August, and the Energy Information Administration’s...
The typical American driver now pays about $194 a month for car insurance
The typical American driver now pays $1,162 for a six-month car insurance policy, or $194 a month, a national premium that has risen 18% in...
Homeowners insurance is projected to average $3,057 this year
The average annual homeowners insurance premium is projected to climb another 4 percent this year, reaching $3,057 by the end of 2026, according to a...
Obamacare insurers are proposing double-digit premium increases again for 2027
ACA Marketplace insurers filed preliminary 2027 rate requests calling for a median premium increase of 15 percent, based on filings covering 276 companies across every...
Assisted living has climbed to a median $6,200 a month, or $74,400 a year
The median cost of an assisted living community climbed 5% over the past year to $6,200 a month, or $74,400 annually, according to the 2025...
Nursing home care runs about $315 a day, nearly $115,000 a year
A semi-private nursing home room carried a median price of $315 a day in 2025, or $114,975 for a full year, according to the 2025...
A federal outlook has all food prices rising about 3% this year, with beef and coffee leading and eggs the main thing pulling it down
The federal government’s latest read on grocery prices lands in familiar territory: the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that all food prices will rise about...
Coffee is up as much as 25% and ground beef sits near $6.83 a pound as tariffs and shortages hit the grocery aisle
Grocery receipts told two very different stories in the summer of 2026. Ground beef averaged roughly $6.83 a pound, roasted coffee carried a double-digit annual...