Key findings
- Headline wage growth is up 3.1% for the top decile and down 2.6% for the bottom decile, inflation-adjusted.
- Rent, care, and transport costs broke the headline average for renter households.
- Regional averages mask larger declines in two of five tracked metros.
National averages are useful, but they are not the same thing as lived conditions. This story compares wage growth to category-level price increases that hit households unevenly.
Instead of asking whether inflation is up or down in the abstract, it asks which costs remain sticky for the people most exposed to them.
The result is a narrower, more honest account of who is recovering and who is still underwater.
An economy can improve on paper while essential costs remain punishing for the households least able to absorb them.
Rent, care, and transport costs break the headline average.
The reporting isolates categories that remain stubborn for renters and families with care obligations. Those costs do not move in sync with the general story told by top-line inflation figures.
Source notes
- Regional wage series, Federal Reserve.
- Consumer Expenditure Survey, BLS.
- Interviews with two union representatives and one employer.
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