Consumer sentiment fell to one of its lowest readings on record in August. The President calls the word "affordability" fake.
Gas prices are up 28% since last year, to $4.08 a gallon.
AAA national average, Aug. 31, 2026: $4.08 a gallon vs. $3.19 a year earlier. View source →
This page follows prices, wages and household budgets in 2025 and 2026, nationally and in New York. It compares those numbers with what officials have said about them. Every figure and quote links to its source.
Oct. 5: New York State is expanding free community college to adults ages 25 to 55 who already hold a degree. Tuition, fees, books and supplies are covered for high-demand SUNY and CUNY associate programs. Classes start in January 2027.
Governor's office, Oct. 5, 2026 · Spectrum News, Oct. 5, 2026
Oct. 1: A federal budget law change takes effect that cuts the federal share of SNAP office costs from half to a quarter. County officials estimate the cost to New York at about $168 million a year.
NY State Association of Counties · Spectrum News, Aug. 31, 2026
Early voting runs Oct. 24 to Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 3.
What has happened to prices, housing and paychecks
Inflation has cooled from its 2022 peak, but it has not gone away. It is arriving on top of two years of higher prices, a housing market at record unaffordability and consumer confidence near historic lows.
Year-over-year headline inflation (CPI) for July 2026 ran above the core rate of 2.5%, driven largely by an energy spike. Shelter costs are still climbing at 3.2% a year.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, released Aug. 12, 2026. View source →
The extra the average New York household has had to pay for goods and services as of August 2026, due to rising costs under President Trump, according to Democratic staff of the Joint Economic Committee in Congress. It is a partisan estimate.
Joint Economic Committee Democrats, NY inflation fact sheet, Sept. 2026. View source →
The typical U.S. monthly mortgage payment on a newly purchased home, early 2020 vs. late 2025. The income needed to comfortably afford that payment has nearly doubled, from $66,000 to over $120,000.
Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, "State of the Nation's Housing 2026." View source →
The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index for August 2026 fell 11.2% from a year earlier and sits in the bottom 1% of readings since the survey began.
University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, Aug. 28, 2026. View source →
Groceries: prices are rising on some items and falling on others.
Beef prices are up more than 14% year-over-year, with USDA forecasting a further ~10% rise in 2026 as cattle herds sit at decades-low levels. Egg prices, by contrast, are falling sharply as last year's bird-flu-driven spike unwinds. Not every grocery item is up, and each one is reported as it stands. Sources: Newsweek/USDA, USDA Food Price Outlook.
On wages: real (inflation-adjusted) average hourly earnings were down 0.2% year-over-year in July 2026, while real weekly earnings were roughly flat (+0.1%), reflecting changes in hours worked. Wages are flat rather than falling across the board, and each measure is cited as published. Source: BLS Real Earnings, Aug. 12, 2026.
New York feels this harder than most states
New York already carries the nation's heaviest state and local tax burden. Layer 2026's price pressures on top, and cost of living has become the dominant issue for New York voters of every party, region, and age group.
New York's national rank on "Affordability" in WalletHub's 2026 Best States to Live In index. The state was 9th overall the year before, and it has the worst homeownership rate of any state.
WalletHub, Aug. 10, 2026. View source →
New York's rank for state and local tax burden per capita ($12,685). It ranks #2 nationally as a share of income (13.56%).
Tax Foundation / WalletHub, cited by PolitiFact New York, Feb. 17, 2026. View source →
Median home sale prices in Nassau and Suffolk counties rose 3.1% and 4.5% year over year, respectively, as of January 2026.
OneKey MLS, via Molloy University. View source →
PSEG Long Island electric rate increase in early 2026 alone. Con Edison customers face approved multi-year hikes too: electric up 3.5% in 2026 (then 3.2%, 3.1% in the two years after), gas up 4.4% (then 5.7%, 5.6%).
PSEG LI rate filings; NYS Public Service Commission order, Jan. 22, 2026. View source →
What New York voters are saying
Of New York registered voters name cost of living as the single most important issue facing the state.
Name it a top-two issue. At least 72% agree in every demographic subgroup measured, across party, region, race, age and gender.
Of Long Island households (354,716 families) fall below the ALICE survival-budget threshold (Nassau: 151,193 households; Suffolk: 203,523).
Increase in New York households experiencing food insecurity (2022–2024 vs. 2019–2021). It now affects 14% of all NY households.
Sourcing on this box
What tariffs cost households
Tariffs are a tax on imports. American companies that bring goods in pay it at the border, and foreign governments do not. Economic research is consistent on who ends up footing most of that bill.
Estimated added cost to the average American household from 2025–2026 tariffs, in higher prices on everyday goods.
Yale Budget Lab, Aug. 24, 2026. View source →
Share of the tariff burden borne by U.S. importers and consumers, rather than foreign exporters, per the economic research consensus.
Peterson Institute for International Economics, Aug. 3, 2026. View source →
Estimated tariff-driven price increase on clothing, which is the hardest-hit household category. Coffee and tea are up an estimated 10 points; furniture, 7.4 points.
Tax Foundation, Feb. 2026. View source →
How much harder tariffs hit the lowest-income households compared to the highest, as a share of income. That makes tariffs a regressive tax.
Yale Budget Lab, Apr. 8, 2026. View source →
Tariff levels have shifted several times in 2025–2026 as legal challenges played out. The Supreme Court struck down one round of tariffs in February 2026, and days later the administration replaced them with new ones under different legal authority. The dollar figures above reflect the most recent estimates as of late August 2026; they will keep moving as policy does.
Why the pump price didn't go back down this time
There have been two separate U.S.–Iran conflicts in the past two years, and they had very different effects on what Americans pay for gas. The sections below compare the two.
Israel and the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites; oil prices rose, then fell back within days
Following Israeli strikes starting June 13, 2025 and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 21–22 ("Operation Midnight Hammer"), crude oil jumped roughly 14% in a week. The spike reversed almost immediately once a ceasefire took hold. The U.S. national gas average barely moved. This conflict is not a meaningful driver of today's prices.
Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration; NPR, June 25, 2025; AAA Gas Prices archive.
A renewed war closed the Strait of Hormuz, and this time prices stayed high
A larger conflict began February 28, 2026. Unlike in 2025, Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a route that carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil. Brent crude rose toward $110 a barrel by mid-March, and U.S. gasoline reached an average of $4.48 a gallon at its May 2026 peak. A ceasefire framework was signed in June, but reopening the strait has stalled amid continued attacks, and oil prices have been climbing again since.
Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, July 7, 2026; Fortune, Mar. 18, 2026; Al Jazeera, Aug. 12, 2026.
What President Trump has said about "affordability"
These are verbatim quotes, each independently confirmed against an official transcript or multiple news organizations.
"I inherited the worst inflation in history. There was no affordability. Nobody could afford anything. The prices were massively high. But the word affordability is a con job by the Democrats."
Source: official White House transcript, via Roll Call Factba.se; reported by PBS NewsHour and Fox News.
"But they have a new word. They always have a hoax. The new word is affordability. So they look at the camera and they say, 'This election is all about affordability.'"
He also said in the same remarks: "Democrats talking about affordability is like Bonnie and Clyde preaching about public safety." Source: verbatim rally transcript via Rev.com; reported by NPR, The Washington Post, and Reuters.
"The word 'affordability' is a fake word, made up by the Democrats."
Source: Reuters wire report, republished widely; reported by Forbes ("Trump Says Affordability Is Fake Word As Inflation Hits 3-Year High") and Yahoo News.
Everything quoted above is an on-the-record spoken statement backed by a transcript or reporting from several outlets. We left out anything, including social media posts, that we could not verify against a primary source.
Bruce Blakeman on tariffs and affordability
Statements by Bruce Blakeman on tariffs, taxes and affordability, with dates and sources.
"I continue to stand with organized labor and the working men and women of Nassau County in supporting job creation and economic security here in America." … "While we all share concerns about the stock market, we will be a stronger and better America if more jobs are held by Americans and more goods are manufactured here."
Source: New York Post reporting, via AOL republication.
"Listen, you can talk about federal issues all you want, but I'm running for governor." … "We're the most overtaxed state in the nation. Our electric bills are 70% higher than the national average."
Source: Spectrum News / NY State of Politics.
The same week, City & State reported that Blakeman told reporters he has "philosophical differences" with President Trump on "the economy, immigration and guest worker programs," to be detailed "in coming weeks," and that he did not respond to a Hochul campaign attack over tariffs. At a March 30, 2026 press conference, Blakeman said: "We are here today to protect the taxpayers. We are here to make this state more affordable... no more taxes."
Source: City & State NY, Aug. 2026; City & State NY, Mar. 30, 2026.
What New York State did about costs
These were passed in the last two state budgets. Each one is explained below for a household.
Taxpayers are getting a state income tax cut. If you earn up to $323,000 (joint filers), your state rate is going down. Fully phased in, middle-class rates hit their lowest level in 70 years.
Governor's office, May 9, 2025. View source →
Households started getting energy rebate checks of up to $200 on Sept. 21. No sign-up needed. Checks keep arriving through December.
Governor's office, Sept. 14, 2026. View source →
Students get free school breakfast and lunch. The state estimates that saves families about $1,600 per child a year.
Governor's office, FY2026 budget. View source →
At most, per qualifying child under 4, from the Empire State Child Credit. Income limits apply. For kids 4 to 16, it is up to $500 starting with tax year 2026.
NYS Department of Taxation. View source →
Increase in child care funding in the FY2027 state budget. The state says it will reach up to 100,000 additional children.
Governor's office, May 11, 2026. View source →
Early voting runs Oct. 24 to Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 3.
How this page was fact-checked
Every figure and quote above links to its source. The full list follows.
Page last fact-checked: August 31, 2026. News and policy sections updated Oct. 15, 2026. Figures and quotes reflect the best available government, academic, and news sourcing as of this date. Tariff and gas-price figures move with policy and events. Check the linked sources for the latest figures.
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