According to a new study by WalletHub, the Denver metro has the fifth-worst inflation problem in the United States, with costs rising on a monthly and yearly basis.
WalletHub analyzed inflation impacts in 23 major metropolitan areas for the study, lumping together Denver, Aurora and Lakewood. In metro Denver, the change in Consumer Price Index compared to two months ago is 1 percent and the change over the last year is 2.2 percent, WalletHub research shows.
Denver's change in CPI over the last two months was the third-highest change captured by the study, pushing the metro to fifth place, in front of Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles and New York. On a year-over-year measure, Denver ranks eighth.
What's Costing More In Denver?
Wallethub's findings are corroborated by the Common Sense Institute in Colorado. According to the conservative think tank, metro Denver has seen its sharpest price hikes in almost a year over the past month, particularly in housing costs and medical care. “While national inflation trends remain relatively stable, Colorado families continue to feel above-average financial pressure,” the CSI said when announcing its June inflation report.
Denver residents are likely feeling the pain at the grocery stores, too, as the CSI found grocery prices have risen 3.43 percent in the last year. Since 2020, inflation has caused the average Colorado household to spend $5,762 more on food than they would have without inflation, the report added. (And that doesn't count potential overcharging at King Soopers.)
The price of medical care in metro Denver rose 5.8 percent in the last year, accounting for the largest increase of any consumer good, according to the CSI.
“Whether Denver’s sudden price spikes through May are one-time corrections in a small number of sectors or indicative of something more persistent will become clearer over the coming months,” the CSI concluded.
National Inflation
Denver isn’t the only city with price spikes. According to WalletHub, every major metropolitan area examined saw some price increases, though many were extremely small. For example, prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have only increased by 0.1 percent over the last two months, and in the Phoenix area prices have only risen 0.3 percent year-over-year. The national picture shows an inflationary environment in general, however.
“The year-over-year inflation rate sits at 2.4 percent as of May 2025, which is still above the target rate of 2 percent,” WalletHub found about the country as a whole. “Various factors, such as the war in Ukraine, labor shortages and recent tariffs, drive this higher-than-average inflation.”
Boston is currently facing the worst inflation of any American metro, according to WalletHub’s analysis, with prices rising 1.1 percent in the last two months and 3 percent in the last year. Also ranking higher than Denver for inflation are St. Louis, Baltimore and San Diego.
Check out this map of where inflation is the most intense across the country:
Source: WalletHub
