Americans are still dealing with sky-high inflation, which hit a 40-year high last year. Though inflation has started to slow slightly due to factors like the Federal Reserve rate hikes, the year-over-year inflation rate was still a whopping 6.0% in February. This high inflation is driven by a variety of factors, including the continued presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and labor shortages. The government is hoping to continue to rein in inflation with additional interest rate hikes this year, but exactly how much of an effect that will have remains to be seen.
Inflation is rising more quickly in some places than others, though. In order to determine the cities where inflation is rising the most – and thus is the biggest problem – WalletHub compared 22 major MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) across two key metrics related to the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation. We compared the Consumer Price Index for the latest month for which BLS data is available to two months prior and one year prior to get a snapshot of how inflation has changed in the short and long term.
Main Findings
Cities Where Inflation is Rising The Most
| Overall Rank | MSA | Total Score | Consumer Price Index Change (Latest month vs 2 months before) |
Consumer Price Index Change (Latest month vs 1 year ago) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 93.48 | 1.70% | 8.90% |
| 2 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 78.26 | 2.00% | 6.90% |
| 2 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 78.26 | 1.20% | 8.50% |
| 4 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 77.17 | 1.90% | 7.00% |
| 4 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 77.17 | 1.40% | 8.00% |
| 6 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 70.65 | 1.50% | 7.20% |
| 7 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 68.48 | 1.80% | 6.40% |
| 8 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 67.39 | 1.30% | 7.30% |
| 9 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 58.70 | 0.80% | 7.50% |
| 10 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 57.61 | 1.90% | 5.20% |
| 11 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA | 56.52 | 1.80% | 5.30% |
| 12 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 53.26 | 1.10% | 6.40% |
| 13 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 52.17 | 1.20% | 6.10% |
| 14 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 51.09 | 1.20% | 6.00% |
| 15 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 50.00 | 1.60% | 5.10% |
| 16 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 48.91 | 0.90% | 6.40% |
| 17 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 41.30 | 0.80% | 5.90% |
| 18 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 40.22 | 1.20% | 5.00% |
| 19 | Minneapolis-St.Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 26.09 | 0.50% | 5.10% |
| 20 | Urban Honolulu, HI | 22.83 | 0.30% | 5.20% |
| 21 | Anchorage, AK | 8.70 | 0.10% | 4.30% |
| 22 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 1.09 | -0.30% | 4.40% |
- Highest
- 1. Philadelphia, PA
- T-2. Detroit, MI
- T-2. Houston, TX
- T-4. San Diego, CA
- T-4. San Francisco, CA
- Lowest
- T-17. Dallas, TX
- T-17. St. Louis, MO
- 19. Minneapolis, MN
- 20. Honolulu, HI
- 21. Anchorage, AK
- 22. Washington, DC
- Highest
- 1. Tampa, FL
- 2. Phoenix, AZ
- 3. Seattle, WA
- 4. Dallas, TX
- 5. Riverside, CA
- Lowest
- T-18. Los Angeles, CA
- T-18. Minneapolis, MN
- 20. Chicago, IL
- 21. Washington, DC
- 22. Anchorage, AK
Ask the Experts
In order to shed more light on inflation and what it means for our economy, WalletHub turned to a panel of experts. Click on the pictures of the experts below to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:
- What are the main factors currently driving inflation?
- What can be done to slow down the rapidly increasing price gains?
- Is raising interest rates a good or bad solution to control inflation?
- What does the current inflation rate tell us about the future of the economy?
Ask the Experts
MPP/MPA Program Director; Lecturer in Statistics for Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy – University of Michigan
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Professor of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences – University of Connecticut
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Associate Professor of Economics – Bard College; Director, OSUN Economic Democracy Initiative; Research Scholar, Levy Economics Institute; Expert, Institute for New Economic Thinking
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Professor and Paul V. Profeta Chair in Real Estate and the Academic Director of the Center for Real Estate Studies – Rutgers Business School
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Ph.D., CFA – Professor of Economics and Finance – Albion College
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Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Political Science – Ashland University
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Methodology
In order to determine the cities where inflation is rising the most, WalletHub compared 22 MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) across two key metrics involving the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation. The metrics are listed below, along with their corresponding weights. We then determined each MSA’s weighted average across the metrics and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
For each MSA in the sample, we used the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For some MSAs, there is a one-month lag on the data available.
- Consumer Price Index Change (Latest month vs 2 months before): Full Weight (~50.00 Points)
- Consumer Price Index Change (Latest month vs 1 year ago): Full Weight (~50.00 Points)
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.