Florida Residents Cry Foul Over Egg Prices.
As the cost of living in Florida continues to rise, it seems that there are fewer and fewer things that we can afford. And now, it looks like eggs have officially joined the list of things that are out of reach for the average Floridian.
Due to an avian influenza outbreak that has killed tens of millions of chickens and turkeys this year, egg costs are at all-time highs. Retail egg costs have risen more than 30% from 2021 to 2022, more than any other grocery item.
No Yolks about it:
Yes, you read that right: eggs are now luxury items in the Sunshine State. Gone are the days when we could just waltz into the grocery store and pick up a carton without breaking the bank. Now, when we see the price of eggs, we have to do a double-take and make sure we didn't accidentally wander into the caviar section.
But what are we supposed to do without eggs? They're the cornerstone of so many of our favorite dishes! How are we supposed to make a decent omelette or a batch of cookies without eggs? It's a sad, eggless existence that we're facing.
Egg Prices Foul:
Of course, there are always alternatives. We could try using egg substitutes or plant-based proteins, but let's be real: they just don't measure up. Or we could try to raise our own chickens and be self-sufficient in the egg department, but let's be real again: who has the time or energy for that?
So, it looks like we'll just have to suck it up and shell out the extra cash for eggs. Or, you know, just stick to ramen noodles and PB&Js for every meal. Either way, it's a bleak future that we're facing. But hey, at least we'll always have the beach to distract us from our eggless misery.
Inflation Is Worse In Florida Cities Than Most Others In The US
In 2022, Americans, especially those of us in Florida are dealing with sky-high inflation. The gauge hit a 40-year high earlier this 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 7.7% in October. This high inflation is driven by a variety of factors. This includes the continued effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the war in Ukraine and even labor shortages. The government is hoping to continue to rein in inflation with additional aggressive interest rate hikes this year. 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. The CPI 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. This will give us a snapshot of how inflation has changed in the short and long term. We'll also show how inflation in Florida cities stack up against other parts of the U.S.
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 | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 100.00 | 1.40% | 12.10% |
| 2 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 79.24 | 0.90% | 10.10% |
| 3 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 77.62 | 1.10% | 8.50% |
| 4 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 76.78 | 1.00% | 8.90% |
| 5 | Anchorage, AK | 73.91 | 1.10% | 7.60% |
| 6 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 73.49 | 1.10% | 7.50% |
| 7 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 71.72 | 0.50% | 10.70% |
| 8 | San Diego-Carlsbad, CA | 71.38 | 0.90% | 8.20% |
| 9 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 70.97 | 0.90% | 8.10% |
| 10 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 67.21 | 0.70% | 8.40% |
| 11 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 65.89 | 0.30% | 10.50% |
| 12 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 65.52 | 0.50% | 9.20% |
| 13 | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA | 64.79 | 1.00% | 6.00% |
| 14 | Urban Honolulu, HI | 62.27 | 0.80% | 6.60% |
| 15 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 62.23 | 0.60% | 7.80% |
| 16 | Minneapolis-St.Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 55.58 | 0.40% | 7.40% |
| 17 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 49.71 | 0.00% | 8.40% |
| 18 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 47.29 | 0.30% | 6.00% |
| 19 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 46.43 | 0.10% | 7.00% |
| 20 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 41.82 | -0.20% | 7.70% |
| 21 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 36.86 | -0.20% | 6.50% |
| 22 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 31.41 | -0.60% | 7.60% |
Consumer Price Index Change (Latest month vs 2 months before)
- 1. Phoenix, AZ
- T-2. Los Angeles, CA
- T-2. Detroit, MI
- T-2. Anchorage, AK
- T-5. San Francisco, CA
- T-5. Seattle, WA
- 18. St. Louis, MO
- 19. Riverside, CA
- T-20. Denver, CO
- T-20. Washington, DC
- 22. Houston, TX
Consumer Price Index Change (Latest month vs 1 year ago)
- 1. Phoenix, AZ
- 2. Atlanta, GA
- 3. Tampa, FL
- 4. Miami, FL
- 5. Dallas, TX
- 18. St. Louis, MO
- 19. Honolulu, HI
- 20. Washington, DC
- T-21. New York, NY
- T-21. San Francisco, CA
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.
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
