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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 Feb 2026 · Base 100 = Jan 2020
Generated from Feb 2026's observations.
As of February 2026, the Basket Index for a US family of 4 sits at 130.8 — meaning the cost of a standard household basket has risen 1.3% versus a year ago and is up 0.27% from the previous month.
Most of the move comes from rent of primary residence, ground beef (100% beef), electricity (residential) and rice (white, long-grain). Together these items account for roughly 112% of the year-over-year basket cost change.
Offsetting the increases: gasoline (regular unleaded) (-6.8%), eggs (grade a, large) (-49.5%), bread (white loaf) (-3.9%) 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.