New study: Purchasing power is shrinking across the country
Consumers feel the "pinch" of inflation when prices rise faster than income, and Florida residents are the hardest hit. A recent study from the fintech company SensaPay estimated that from 2023 to 2026, Floridians lost the equivalent of $8,222 in income to increasing costs on a range of necessary expenses, including housing, insurance, healthcare, groceries and transportation.
Florida isn't the only state suffering. In fact, every state and Washington, D.C., lost purchasing power despite rising wages.
"This is why many Americans feel pessimistic about the economy," a SensaPay financial advisor said in a statement announcing the study results. "If your salary goes up by 8% but your rent and electricity go up by 18%, you are losing one-tenth of your salary on inflation."
Each of the 10 most-impacted states has at least a 15% inflation rate based on SensaPay's real-world consumer price index, which reflects actual costs. All 10 are listed below, with their real-world CPIs and effective pay cuts.
Income Growth Can't Keep Up
SensaPay income estimates predict healthy growth from 2023 to 2026 for all 10 states listed. Cumulative growth could exceed 8% in Florida, Colorado and California, for instance. But with a cumulative real-world CPI reaching as high as 19%, residents' purchasing power is still plummeting.
Florida
- 2023 income: $73,311
- 2026 income (estimated): $79,675
- Estimated annual loss: $8,222
Utah
- 2023 income: $93,421
- 2026 income (estimated): $100,262
- Estimated annual loss: $9,702
Colorado
- 2023 income: $92,911
- 2026 income (estimated): $100,685
- Estimated annual loss: $9,699
Texas
- 2023 income: $75,780
- 2026 income (estimated): $81,488
- Estimated annual loss: $6,900
New Jersey
- 2023 income: $99,781
- 2026 income (estimated): $107,481
- Estimated annual loss: $8,983
Nebraska
- 2023 income: $74,590
- 2026 income (estimated): $80,286
- Estimated annual loss: $6,715
Louisiana
- 2023 income: $58,229
- 2026 income (estimated): $62,493
- Estimated annual loss: $4,797
New York
- 2023 income: $82,095
- 2026 income (estimated): $88,621
- Estimated annual loss: $6,248
Arizona
- 2023 income: $77,315
- 2026 income (estimated): $83,461
- Estimated annual loss: $5,884
California
- 2023 income: $95,521
- 2026 income (estimated): $103,214
- Estimated annual loss: $7,169
How To Protect Your Finances Against Inflation
You can't control inflation, but you can shield your finances against some of its effects. These dos and don'ts from Fidelity can help you ride out rising costs.
Do
- Create and stick to a budget.
- Review your portfolio to ensure it's well diversified, including with growth assets likely to outpace inflation.
- Keep investing for retirement.
- Consider delaying retirement or returning to work part-time.
Don't
- Keep too much cash because Inflation depletes its value.
- Try to time the market or interest rates. Inflation can impact both, but you can't predict when or how.
- Overinvest in gold or other volatile inflation hedges.
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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 5:33 AM.