How Americans Are Feeling Inflation in 2025

The nation’s affordability crisis is not new. For the past three years, the American Communities Project has surveyed the country and found that inflation has been the No. 1 issue in all 15 community types we study.

But the concerns take on a special meaning this time of year, with Thanksgiving over and a lot of retailers nervous about how the next few weeks are going to go.

Judging by the 2025 American Communities Project survey, it may be a tough holiday season across the United States, but particularly in communities with larger Black and Hispanic populations as well as some rural blue-collar communities.

‘Serious Financial Problems’

The 2025 survey of 5,000 Americans found that 30% had experienced “serious financial problems caused by recent price increases” in the last year. But the numbers were even more pronounced in some types of communities. (Note: The Aging Farmlands and Native American Lands were not included on this question due to time and cost constraints.)

More than a third of the respondents in the African American South (38%), Hispanic Centers (37%), and Working Class Country (35%) said they experienced such problems. These are the highest numbers at the community level.

What do those communities have in common? Very little, in terms of racial and ethnic composition. The African American South and Hispanic Centers are among the most diverse, while the white, non-Hispanic population in Working Class Country is far above the national average.

The three are also very different politically. The African American South is politically divided, but consistently votes Democratic. Hispanic Centers are divided, and they flipped to vote Republican in 2024. The counties of Working Class Country are consistently heavily Republican.

But they all have median household incomes below the national average and fewer bachelor’s degrees. They also have child poverty rates above the national average. In other words, they are some of the most economically vulnerable communities in the nation. If the nation is heading for trouble in the economy, you might expect to see it in these communities first.

Where Problems Are Coming From

The 2025 survey also asked people in the ACP’s 15 community types about the specific areas in which inflation was causing them problems. The options were “rent or mortgage”; “medical care or drugs”; “food, gas or other household needs”; or “other problems like credit card bills or loans.”  And there was good and bad news in the responses.

That’s a complicated chart with a lot of data columns, but mouse over it to see how individual communities answered the questions.

The good news is that the numbers for “rent or mortgage” were relatively low — about 18% cited that concern nationally. Housing is generally the last place that people miss payments, so having that number under 20% is a plus. But note, again, how much higher the African American South and Hispanic Centers are, both at 25%.

The affordability of healthcare shows up as a bigger problem in most places, and again, rural communities where people live closer to the margins are feeling more pressure. The African American South, Hispanic Centers, and Working Class Country, joined by the Evangelical Hubs are all above 24% on this question, although none of the numbers climb too high.

But the last two areas — serious problems paying for “food and gas” and “credit card bills” — show big jumps on the chart. Nationally, the figures in both areas climb to more than 25%. But the African American South, Hispanic Centers, and Working Class Country all show much bigger spikes. More than a third of respondents in each of those community types said they have had serious problems in those areas.

Food, gas, and credit card bills are the fundamental building blocks of holiday spending as people celebrate with big meals, family trips, and gift purchases. It looks like those building blocks may be in short supply in many ACP communities — but especially the three types facing more hardship than others.

Add up the numbers here, and December, a month that’s crucial for the U.S. economy, could prove to be challenging. The bigger question, however, is whether the trouble in these vulnerable places signals a more difficult 2026 for most of the country.