Inflation Is Now Hitting the Rich and the U.S. Mountain West

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Inflation is surging across the U.S., but how bad you’re hit likely depends on where you live -- and how much money you make. 

The states experiencing the fastest inflation in the country are in the U.S. Mountain West: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. And in a surprising turn of events, the surging cost of living has been felt more by high-income households in the past several months -- a reversal from earlier in the pandemic, when low-income families had the bigger blow. 

In the Mountain states, the 8.6% annual rate of inflation is almost 3 percentage points higher than the Middle Atlantic -- New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, where price gains are the tamest nationally. Meanwhile, the New England area is seeing next-lowest rates with 6.2% inflation.

While the data only corresponds to the evolution of price changes, the gap does highlight the vast differences across the U.S. and the difficulties the Federal Reserve faces in controlling inflation.

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