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U.S. households are spending nearly half their budgets on housing and food, the highest share in 15 years

Digilifetrends Published 1 min read
A customer examines salad and lettuce displayed on the shelf of a Manhattan grocery store on Aug. 13, 2026, in New York City.
A customer examines salad and lettuce displayed on the shelf of a Manhattan grocery store in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/TNS)

Housing and food accounted for almost half of U.S. households’ spending, the highest level in 15 years, as rents, homeownership expenses and beef prices continued to climb.

American families spent an average of $1,988 more on those two categories combined than they did the previous year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Those figures came before the Iran war drove up some grocery prices and utility bills further this year.

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