Bidenflation: U.S. Households Are Spending an Extra $11,400 Annually to Afford Basics

The average U.S. household needs an extra $11,434 per year just to maintain the same standard of living they had only a few years ago, before inflation hit record highs under the Biden administration.

A Tuesday CBS News Moneywatch report used government data to determine how much Americans paid to live in January 2021 compared to today, finding that the typical family just can’t compete with the 40-year record-high inflation.

While the average hourly pay for workers has increased by 13.6 percent since the beginning of 2021, inflation has increased by 17 percent over the same period.

The report found that the main categories requiring heavier spending are basic survival needs like food, transportation, housing, and energy. Those spending areas account for almost 80 cents of every dollar in additional spending, an analysis from Republican members of the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee revealed.

“We choose January 2021 as the base month because it was the last time inflation was within recent historical norms,” the introduction to their November 2022 report reads, stating that prices began to accelerate “soon after.”

President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

The GOP lawmakers found that households in “the Mountain West” are facing some of the highest rates of inflation.

“Due to a combination of higher inflation rates and higher average household spending, inflation is imposing the highest monthly costs on families in the states of Colorado, Utah, and Arizona,” the report states.

The Senate committee predicted that families in Colorado would face inflation costs of $12,065 over the course of 2023, which is $631 higher than the national average calculated by CBS. 

Families in Washington, DC, are also experiencing “relatively higher inflation costs due to higher average spending levels.” The report estimated their annual additional household costs from November 2022 to November 2023 at $13,460, a whopping $2,026 more than the current national average.