10 Major U.S. Cities Where Inflation Has Surged

It seems safe to say we’re all tired of dealing with 40-year-high inflation — an annual rate of 8.3% nationally as of the end of August 2022. At least that’s a tick down from the 8.5% in July.

But some places have had it far worse than others. Several major metros have seen inflation that is near or greater than 9% annually, according to a new WalletHub analysis of inflation rates across the country.

The finance website used Labor Department data from the Consumer Price Index for 23 metropolitan areas to compare price inflation from two months ago and a year ago to see how inflation has changed in the short term and long term. The CPI is one of the most common measures of inflation used by the federal government.

Based on its findings, WalletHub assigned each metro a total score based on its inflation rates. Those scores use a 100-point scale, and the higher the inflation, the higher the score.

Following are the areas where inflation has burned hottest.

1. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ

Total score: 92.11 out of 100 possible points

Price index increase in August 2022 versus the prior two months: 0.8%

Price index increase in August 2022 versus August 2021: 13.0%

Phoenix residents have had a harsh year for their finances, and it may be impacting their ability to purchase homes, as we noted in “15 Markets With the Most Home Sales Getting Canceled.” If there’s a silver lining, it seems to be that things are slowly moving toward normalcy in the real estate market.

2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

Total score: 87.59 out of 100 possible points

Price index increase in August 2022 versus the prior two months: 1.3%

Price index increase in August 2022 versus August 2021: 11.7%

While prices aren’t declining for Atlanta, they are getting higher more slowly. In July, the two-month price index increase was nearly double — 2.4%.

3. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

Total score: 84.16 out of 100 possible points

Price index increase in August 2022 versus the prior two months: 1.3%

Price index increase in August 2022 versus August 2021: 11.2%

Not far behind is the Tampa area, where the people are no strangers to stretching a dollar. Tampa is among the “15 Best Cities for Thrift Shopping in America.”

The rest of the top 10

The remaining metros at the top of WalletHub’s list of cities experiencing the fastest inflation are widely spread out across the country, with the top 10 having two states featured twice — Florida and Texas. Here are the other top cities, along with their total inflation score:

• Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL: 72.84 out of 100 possible points
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 69.20
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA: 68.71
• Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO: 67.12
• Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD: 66.79
• Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI: 62.74
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX: 61.99