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A monthly explainer generated directly from Basket Index data. Republished by Basket Index, attributed to public BLS, FRED, and EIA sources.
As of May 2026 · Base 100 = Jan 2020
Generated from this month's observations.
As of May 2026, the Basket Index for a US family of 4 sits at 126.3 — meaning the cost of a standard household basket has risen 2.5% versus a year ago and is down 0.10% from the previous month.
Most of the move comes from rent of primary residence, gasoline (regular unleaded), eggs (grade a, large) and chicken (whole, fresh). Together these items account for roughly 128% of the year-over-year basket cost change.
Offsetting the increases: ground beef (100% beef) (-8.1%), electricity (residential) (-1.5%), bananas (-3.3%) are cheaper than a year ago.
Inflation is rarely caused by one thing. Energy prices feed into food production and shipping; rent moves with housing supply and interest rates; and grocery prices respond to supply shocks, weather, and demand patterns. Basket Index does not claim causality — it tracks the prices households actually face, and lets you see which categories are pulling the basket up.
Year-over-year change for each item, ranked by contribution to the basket move.
Items down year-over-year, helping offset the rise.
One email a month. The Basket Index reading, biggest movers, one chart.