Cost of Living 2026 Remains High: What Washington Can Do

Why the Cost of Living Matters in 2026

For many families, the 2026 cost of living crisis can be summed up in one question: after paying for food, housing, gas, electricity, and healthcare, how much is left?

In the latest UnidosUS analysis of independent, undecided, and crossover Latino voters, 60% identified the cost of living as a primary concern in 2026. Immigration matters, but so does the pocketbook, helping define this election.

By the Numbers

3.4%: the year-over-year increase in the overall Consumer Price Index in August 2026, according to the BLS.
2.2%: the increase in food purchased for home consumption.
3.2%: the increase in fruits and vegetables.
2.9%: the increase the USDA projects for average food prices in 2026.

The key: lower inflation means prices are rising more slowly. It does not mean supermarket prices will return to what they were three or four years ago.

The Big Question: Can Washington Lower Prices?

Yes, it can influence them. No, it cannot set them.

The final price of a product reflects fuel, wages, transportation, climate, interest rates, competition, imports, and worker availability. Congress and the president can affect some of those costs through taxes, tariffs, spending, agricultural policy, labor immigration, and regulation.

Zoom In: Tariffs

Supporters argue that tariffs can protect US industries, encourage domestic production, and generate federal revenue. The other side of the equation is that they can also increase the cost of imported products and inputs.

The CBO estimates that the higher tariffs in effect since 2025 put temporary upward pressure on inflation and reduce economic output compared with a scenario without those changes. Federal Reserve economists also found that part of the cost of the 2025 tariffs was passed on to retail prices, with lower-income households bearing a proportionally greater burden for the affected products.

Act II: The War With Iran

Add another factor that Washington directly influences: the war with Iran, which caused oil disruptions in the Middle East and drove up crude oil prices. When oil prices rise, the impact does not stop at the gas pump. It increases the cost of diesel used by trucks and agricultural machinery, makes transporting food and merchandise more expensive, and raises the cost of plastics, packaging, and other petroleum-derived products. That does not mean every increase in oil prices automatically produces an equivalent increase at the supermarket, but it does create a chain of costs that can ultimately affect the cost of living crisis.

Between the Lines: Immigration Is Also Economic Policy

Less immigration can reduce some demand for housing and goods. It also reduces the supply of workers. The CBO projects that lower net immigration will slow labor-force growth and may temporarily increase wages and prices in sectors facing worker shortages.

This matters especially in agriculture, construction, hospitality, and restaurants. As we saw in Arizona, immigration does not exist in a box separate from the economy: decisions about who can work also affect businesses, wages, and prices.

Reality Check

Prices do not depend on a single law or politician. But that does not mean a representative in Congress has little power. The House is currently divided by just a few seats: 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one independent, and two vacancies. In recent votes, some measures have been decided by margins of just three votes.

That makes every elected representative a potentially decisive vote on policies that can affect household finances in the November elections, affecting taxes, tariffs, energy, immigration and worker availability, agriculture, Medicaid, SNAP, and federal spending, among others.

One way to evaluate promises to «lower prices» is to examine how an incumbent has voted and what a newcomer to Congress proposes specifically. The question is not only who says they will reduce the cost of living in the US, but how they might vote when those decisions reach the floor of a closely divided House.

What’s Next: November Elections

This week we applied those questions to a specific contest: CA-22, where David Valadao and Randy Villegas are competing in a predominantly Latino district where healthcare, agriculture, immigration, and the cost of living all end up affecting the same family budget.

Also, explore the MundoNow election hub to follow districts, November elections voting dates, and official voting resources.