South Florida among worst places for inflation in America: study

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Residents living in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach region have been burdened with some of America’s highest inflation rates, according to recently released data.

Analyzed by WalletHub, the study found South Florida’s three main cities placed second for inflation problems.

The region held a 4.90% annual rate of inflation, and 1.40% latest month change from two months prior.

Moreover, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach was tied with Dallas-Fort Worth for the worst annual rate of inflation in the country.

For its findings, WalletHub analyzed 23 metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, across two key metrics related to the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, which measures inflation. The study specifically compared the CPI for the latest month to recent available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to two months and one year prior.

Ahead of South Florida, Urban Honolulu, Hawaii was rated as the worst place for inflation with a score of 92.19. The region specifically held a 4.80% annual rate and 1.50% latest month change from two months prior.

Notably, a considerable drop-off was recorded after the top two.

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California finished third for inflation with a total score of 81.25. The region specifically recorded a 4.30% annual rate and 1.40% latest month change from two months prior.

The rest of the top five included St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois with a 3.60% annual rate and 1.60% latest change from two months prior for a total score of 76.56.

It was followed by Dallas-Fort Worth with a 4.90% annual rate, although the region held a 0.90% month change from two months prior for a total score of 75.00.

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington also scored an equal 75.00.

The rest of the top 10 included Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware-Maryland; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California; Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts-New Hampshire; and Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Maryland .

On the flip slide, Anchorage, Alaska was listed as the best region for annual rate of inflation at 1.70%. The area also held a region best 0.10% latest month change from two months prior to finish 23rd overall.

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan; Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona; Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota-Wisconsin; and Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado followed in the rankings. All four regions specifically held a annual rate under 3% and a latest month change from two months prior under 1%.

By definition, the U.S. inflation rate is the percentage in which a chosen basket of goods and services purchased in the U.S. increases in price over a year. Inflation also is a metric used by the U.S. Federal Reserve to measure the health of the economy.

The current rate of inflation as of March 2024 in the United States was 3.48%, up from 3.15% compared to last month. On March 31, 2023, the inflation rate was 4.98%, a melancholy mark after peaking at 9.06% in June 2022, the highest mark since November 1981.

On May 31, 2020, the U.S. rate of inflation stood at an anemic 0.12% month-over-month. The positive mark stretched all the way to March 31, 2021 before nearly doubling from 2.62% to 4.16% by April 30, 2021.

Overall, cumulative inflation has risen 18% since President Joe Biden took office in 2021. Under Biden, the average rate of inflation has been 5.7%, a stark contrast from the 1.9% rate under President Donald Trump.