US household costs since 2024 show pressure in housing, energy and health care

US household costs since 2024 have risen across several essential categories, but the available figures measure different things: prices relative to earnings, the share of income devoted to housing, and households’ reported ability to pay. The evidence does not provide a single post-2024 inflation rate or a complete national household-budget calculation.

Housing produced the clearest 2024 measure of financial strain. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies estimates that 43.5 million households, or 33% of all households, were cost burdened that year, meaning housing absorbed more than 30% of monthly income. Of those, 21.6 million households, or 16% of the total, spent more than half their income on housing and were classified as severely burdened.

How many households were burdened by housing costs in 2024?

The burden extended to both renters and owners. Harvard’s analysis of Census Bureau American Community Survey data put the number of cost-burdened renters at 22.7 million, or 49% of renter households, in 2024. It counted 20.7 million cost-burdened homeowner households, equal to 24% of homeowners.

These figures are an income-share measure rather than a direct measure of price inflation. As longer-run context, renters’ median housing costs increased 38% between 2019 and 2024 while their incomes rose 28%, according to Harvard. For homeowners without a mortgage, median housing costs rose 35% over that period, compared with a 23% increase in income.

Property insurance may add to housing expenses in some areas. A May 2024 Morning Consult survey commissioned by the Bipartisan Policy Center and the National Housing Conference found that about 40% of surveyed homeowners had experienced either higher insurance costs or difficulty obtaining coverage in the preceding year. The policy group attributes pressure on insurance costs to factors including weather-related risks, rebuilding costs and reinsurance, though that survey does not establish a nationwide housing-cost trend after 2024.

Which essential costs have risen faster than earnings?

The Urban Institute’s affordability tracker reports that gasoline prices have risen 33% since January 2025, an average national increase of $1.02 a gallon, while nominal earnings rose 6%. It also found that residential electricity bills outpaced earnings in 31 states between June 2025 and June 2026, with customers paying about $5 more per month on average.

Health-insurance data show a different pattern by coverage type. Premiums for unsubsidized second-lowest-cost Silver plans on Affordable Care Act Marketplaces rose 22% between 2025 and 2026 to $611 a month, according to the Urban Institute tracker. That measure applies to a benchmark Marketplace plan and should not be read as an average for all insured people. Over the same period, employer-sponsored health-insurance premiums increased 5% on average, the tracker said.

Polling indicates the practical effects of health costs on household decisions. In KFF’s September 2026 survey, 26% of adults said they were very worried about affording health care and 36% were somewhat worried. KFF said 28% reported skipping or postponing needed care during the prior 12 months because of cost, while 22% said they had trouble paying medical bills.

Taken together, the measures point to pressure in household budgets, but they are not interchangeable. Housing data describe the portion of income spent on shelter, energy and fuel data compare selected prices with earnings, and health polling records reported financial difficulty and care decisions.

This story draws on original reporting from Econbrowser.