The Leaderboard of Pain
We compiled cumulative price increases across major categories from January 2020 to mid-2025. Auto insurance leads at roughly +55%. Eggs follow at +50% (with wild volatility). Transportation services are up ~40%. Shelter (housing) has risen ~25%. Food away from home is up ~28%.
The overall CPI is up about 22% cumulatively. That means the most impactful household expenses — the ones you can't easily cut — have outpaced the headline number. And the things that deflated (electronics, used cars from peak) tend to be discretionary and infrequent.
The Weight Problem
One reason CPI can feel disconnected from lived experience is weighting. Shelter represents 36% of the index but moves slowly because it measures lease renewals, not current market conditions. This understates pain for new renters. Conversely, eggs (less than 0.2% of CPI) generate outsized emotional reactions relative to budget impact.
The categories combining high weight with high inflation create the deepest squeeze: housing, food, transportation, and insurance together represent ~75% of typical spending and have all inflated above the CPI average.
- Auto insurance: +55%
- Eggs: +50% (volatile)
- Car repair: +38%
- Restaurants: +28%
- Shelter: +25%
- Electricity: +22%
- Overall CPI: +22%
- Apparel: +8%
- TVs/electronics: -18%