The U.S. Cities With the Highest Rates of Inflation

Americans have been hit with sky-high inflation in 2022, despite the fact that the annual rate did dip to 8.2 percent in September, compared to 8.3 percent in August.

This high inflation rate many Americans are seeing has been driven by a variety of factors, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, experts say.

"Thanks to a strong job market and generous federal stimulus, consumers are in spending mode," Daniel Roccato, a clinical professor of finance at the University of San Diego, told Newsweek. "But while demand for goods and services is up across the board, supply has not kept pace. Add in a horrific war and supply chain issues and you get global inflation."

But despite the annual inflation rate slowing over the last few months, some cities and their wider metro areas are still seeing higher inflation rates than the national average.

The metropolitan area experiencing the highest rate of inflation in the U.S. is Phoenix, Arizona, according to new research by personal finance website WalletHub.

Using the consumer price index, a measure used to determine the rate of inflation, WalletHub found that the Phoenix metropolitan area has experienced a 13 percent rise in prices in the 12 months to September 2022.

Atlanta, Georgia, stands second as consumer prices rose 11.7 percent over the same period, while Miami, Florida, in third, saw a 10.7 percent increase.

The following graph is based on WalletHub's research, which uses data from the Bureu of Labor Statistics. It shows the cities in the U.S. where inflation has risen the most.

Some areas such as San Francisco, California, and Washington D.C. have experienced marginal drops in consumer prices over the two months leading to September, at 0.5 and 0.2 percent respectively.

Of the 23 cities where inflation has been rising the most, the San Francisco metropolitan area had the lowest annual rise in consumer price index, at 5.7 percent in September 2022.

Consumers are seeing prices rise across the States for essential items and groceries, causing a growing concern for how the cost of living is impacting millions, but is the rate of inflation expected to drop anytime soon and are the government initiatives working?

Robert Eyler, professor of economics at Sonoma State University, told Newsweek that rising inflation rates would likely lead to changes in consumer behavior in the foreseeable future, as many turn to saving instead of spending.

"The consumer can save more, though rising prices lead to behavior to spend now because expectations of inflation are rising," Eyler said.

Eyler also cautioned that the rising interest rates to tackle rising inflation could lead to job instability for many Americans. Eyler continued: "Unfortunately, the cost of higher interest rates is to slow business spending and investment, including as much hiring.

"We should expect workers to lose their job and the number of job openings to drop over the next 12 months. Much of this is a reaction to both rising prices and wages and now rising interest rates."

Associate professor in economics and data analytics at the University of St. Thomas, Tyler Schipper warned that tackling rising inflation would not be easy for many Americans.

"Raising interest rates is probably the only tool with sufficient power to bring down inflation. That does not mean that it will be quick, easy, or painless," Schipper said. "Economists often think of there being a trade-off between inflation and unemployment.

"The same tools that the Fed is using to control inflation will also slow the economy. This will likely lead to job losses—an eventuality that the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, has been telegraphing through his public speeches [...].

"The goal is a 'soft landing' to use interest rates just enough to bring down inflation without putting the economy into a deep recession. Time will tell if this is possible."