With inflation once again on the rise, stubbornly high prices continue to impact Americans across the country. But some metropolitan areas are seeing steeper inflation rates than others.
The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area topped WalletHub's recent list of cities most impacted by inflation, with a 7.8% increase in its consumer price index — which measures the change in how much consumers pay for goods and services — as of August, compared with a year ago.
That's well above the nationwide year-over-year CPI, which hit 3.7% in August.
Using the latest available data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, WalletHub's study analyzed the change in inflation rates in 23 major metropolitan areas over the past two months and the past 12 months. Cities were then ranked based on the weighted average of these two-month and one-year CPI changes.
These are the five U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest inflation increases, according to WalletHub.
1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida
- 2-month CPI increase: 1.2%
- 1-year increase: 7.8%
2. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado
- 2-month CPI increase: 1.3%
- 1-year increase: 4.7%
3. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia
- 2-month CPI increase: 1.1%
- 1-year increase: 4.4%
4. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington
- 2-month CPI increase: 0.8%
- 1-year increase: 5.4%
5. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan
- 2-month CPI increase: 0.6%
- 1-year increase: 5.9%
While inflation across the U.S. has fallen from its peak of 9.1% in June 2022, the 3.7% year-over-year increase reached last month is now the biggest gain this year, largely driven by rising energy prices.
Money Report
Housing is a leading factor driving high inflation in cities like Miami, says Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. Housing prices in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area have increased 12.5% since August 2022, according to the BLS.
"Housing accounts for about 40% of the CPI, and it's the biggest pricing differential across metro areas," Faucher tells CNBC Make It. "We've seen much stronger house price growth in Miami, so that means higher inflation there relative to other areas that have more stable housing markets."
Despite last month's hotter-than-expected inflation report, experts anticipate overall prices to continue a gradual cool-down over the next two years.
"It's not going to be instant," said Adam Kamins, senior regional economist at Moody's Analytics. "Patience is going to be needed, but I think we see things moving in the right direction."
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