One of the most important issues for voters in the 2024 election was inflation and the cost of living. President-elect Trump himself said after the election that two things led him to victory: the border and grocery prices.
"When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time, and I won an election based on that. We’re going to bring those prices way down," Trump told NBC's Meet The Press.
People often overestimate how much control a president has over prices, laying the issue at the president's feet whether it's fair or not. That's already happening to Trump. NPR recently reported President Trump is devoting new attention to affordability and the economy. He recently said he was scrapping U.S. tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits and a broad swath of other commodities — a dramatic move that comes amid mounting pressure on his administration to better combat high consumer prices.
WGLT has been tracking the cost of living in Bloomington-Normal since January. Our Newsroom has periodically checked prices on 10 categories of food (groceries and fast food), consumer goods, entertainment and activities, and essentials like housing. We visited the same stores over and over again, repeatedly checking the prices of the same products to see if they want up, down, or stayed the same.
The data-collection had its limits. Utility bills were not included, for example, although many Twin City residents experienced spikes over the summer.
What we found was that prices haven't really changed much since Trump returned to office. Check out these data snapshots to see what we found:
