Puget Sound residents continue to battle stubbornly high inflation
Jan 14, 2026, 5:00 AM | Updated: Jan 15, 2026, 2:56 pm
Customers shop at a grocery store. (Photo: Brandon Bell, Getty Images)
(Photo: Brandon Bell, Getty Images)
Inflation is up nationwide, and it’s even higher in the greater Seattle area.
Nationally, prices rose 2.7%, but in Seattle, they increased 3.1% over the past year, according to a news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Food costs rose 4.4%, energy jumped 7.2%, medical care climbed 5.3%, and shelter increased 1.7%.
Seattle wages haven’t kept up
While inflation rose, Seattle wages didn’t keep up, Staffing Industry Analysts reported in December.
Seattle and San Francisco saw the largest gap between wage growth and inflation, according to an Instawork analysis. The consumer price index rose by 17.78% in Seattle, but wages only rose by 2.7%.
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Inflation keeps rising in metro area
The trend continues a pattern of rising costs in Seattle. In September, Seattle-area inflation was up 2.8% year over year, driven largely by energy prices, which rose 7.3%.
In July, inflation in the Pacific region continued to surpass the national average, jumping 3.27% annually.
A WalletHub study found the Seattle metro area faces the most significant inflationary pressure of all major metro areas in the U.S., according to The Center Square.
“The numbers are pretty startling for Seattle, particularly in the short term,” WalletHub writer and analyst Chip Lupo told the media outlet. “They went up 1.4% in just the last two months – and that was the highest jump of any of the 23 metro areas.”
The Center Square called out Washington’s gas tax, along with increased food delivery fees.
Contributing: Heather Bosch, KIRO Newsradio; Julia Dallas and Jason Sutich, MyNorthwest
