How Prices Changed Since Trump Took Office
Trump campaigned on bringing prices down for Americans. Here's where prices stand a little over a year into his second term.
One of President Donald Trump's key issues during the last election was about bringing prices down. In a December speech, he recommitted to that goal, saying, "I have no higher priority than making America affordable again."
In that same speech, the president also said prices are already coming down rapidly while wages are getting higher. Three months into his second year back in office, let's take a look at what the data says about prices and wages across the United States.
Overall, in President Trump's first year and change in office, inflation fell from 3% year-over-year in January 2025 to 2.4% in February 2026. That's down but still stubbornly stuck above the 2% rate the Federal Reserve is targeting. The picture also looks different when you zoom in on some of the categories that matter most to your wallet.
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How I tracked prices and wages during Trump's second term
To get a sense of how the cost of living has shifted since Trump returned to office, I looked at food, housing and transportation to see how much your daily essentials cost. I also looked at wage data to get a sense of whether income is keeping pace with those prices.
Unless otherwise noted, all data below was pulled from either the Bureau of Labor Statistics or the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. In some cases, data for October 2025 is missing in some categories due to the government shutdown.
It's also worth noting that this data simply shows how prices and other economic indicators have changed over the year across various categories. It doesn't reflect the cause of those changes — whether they're tied to policies enacted under the Trump administration, longer-term trends or other factors.
How food prices changed in Trump's first year
Among all the foods tracked in the chart above, prices rose on average 2.31% from January to December 2025, which was slower than the overall inflation rate during that time period. In the first two months of 2026, however, food prices are rising faster, hitting 3.1% year-over-year inflation in February.
Some foods fared better than others, though. Notably, egg prices have fallen sharply (about 45% from January to December) in Trump's first year back in office. That's likely tied to prices settling down after the bird flu outbreak that sent them soaring at the start of the year. Bread also fell slightly over the year.
Meanwhile, other food categories have gotten significantly more expensive. Coffee prices are up nearly 35% since the start of 2025, for example. Beef prices are up over 21% in the same time period.
Overall trend: Food prices are still generally going up and prices are starting to rise even faster in 2026, though a couple of items have gotten cheaper.
How housing prices changed in Trump's second term
Aside from higher grocery prices, housing costs are also on the rise since January 2025. You might have noticed a higher gas or electric bill as the costs of those utilities are up 10.9% and 4.8% year-over-year, respectively, according to the February CPI report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While mortgage rates had come down almost a full percentage point by the end of 2025, they're still above 6% and starting to creep back up as we head into peak homebuying season. As of the last week of March, a 30-year mortgage will cost you 6.38% in interest, according to Freddie Mac. That's up from 6.15% at the end of December.
At the same time, home insurance premiums also rose 6.25% from January to November last year. Though some homeowners might be living in states where home insurance is cheaper than the national average.
Some good news on the housing front: If you're in the market to buy a new house, median home prices trended downward in 2025, according to the Census Bureau, dipping from $429,600 in January to $392,300 in October. While that might partially reflect seasonal shifts in demand, that does mean now might be the right time to start house hunting.
If you're not ready to buy just yet or you're considering renting instead of downsizing, another encouraging sign is the slightly slower pace of rent increases. In 2025, average rents climbed 2.6%. That's much slower than the 3.9% increase in 2024 and 5.7% spike in 2023. Though your monthly rent is still likely sitting about 30% higher than it was pre-pandemic.
Overall trends: Utility bills and home insurance continued to surge. Mortgage rates, rent, and home prices all rose, too, but the pace of inflation in those areas stabilized somewhat in 2025.
How transportation prices changed in Trump's second term
If you're looking to buy a car soon, you may already know that new car prices are high. Despite tariffs, however, those higher car prices remained pretty flat during President Trump's first year in office. However, with the average price surpassing $50,000 for the first time last year, according to Kelley Blue Book, those flat prices might not exactly seem affordable.
Gas prices were low throughout 2025. From January to December, your price at the pump fell 4.4%. But the era of cheap gas is over for now as the average price per gallon shot above $4 by the end of March.
Those higher fuel prices are paired with rising car insurance rates. Premiums rose 2.41% over 2025. That modest bump means your bill may be higher, but rates aren't spiking nearly as much as home insurance premiums.
Overall trends: Buying a car is expensive, and the cost to insure it and fuel it are getting more expensive, too.
Income
Now that we've looked at prices across some of the key daily essentials, let's look at how those prices stack up against what Americans are earning. For those who are employed, wage growth has remained relatively modest.
Total compensation — which includes wages and other benefits, like paid leave — grew 3.4% year-over-year in the first quarter for the private sector. By the third quarter of 2025, the pace of growth ticked up slightly to 3.5% year-over-year.
That slower growth is part of a longer-term trend stretching back to 2022, when wage hikes peaked at 5.5%. After the pandemic-era surge, growth fell sharply, and 2025’s gains are now below the 3.8% average growth workers saw in 2024.
Moreover, when you factor in rising prices, even that peak wage growth back in 2022 wasn't enough to keep pace with inflation, which peaked that same year at over 9%. For many Americans, paychecks have been falling behind for several years. And for wages to truly catch up, they would need to outpace inflation for an extended period, not just match it, to recover the buying power lost during the pandemic.
Overall trends: Total compensation is up slightly, but not growing as fast as it was in previous years, and not fast enough to offset years of inflation.
Is America more affordable today than it was one year ago?
Overall, prices are not coming down except in a few limited categories. While the rate of inflation is slowing in some categories, prices are still going up (just at a slower pace).
Meanwhile, wages are still lagging behind inflation and the pace of wage growth is falling. When you combine slowing wage growth with major price hikes in some key categories, like home insurance, beef and coffee, it's easy to see why many Americans are feeling the pinch in their pocketbooks.
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