High Price Summer: Groundwork Analysis Finds Cookout Staples, Summer Travel and Staycations More Expensive As Temperatures Rise
High Price Summer: Groundwork Analysis Finds Cookout Staples, Summer Travel and Staycations More Expensive As Temperatures Rise
Corporate greed and Trump’s war in Iran are robbing working families of their summer breaks, report finds
Last week, Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation released a report detailing summer sticker shock in the grocery aisle, at the gas pump, at the airline ticket counter and beyond. As companies deploy high-tech pricing schemes to further squeeze consumers and President Trump dismisses the cost of living crisis as “peanuts,” working families are struggling to make ends meet this summer.
The report comes as voters rank inflation and the cost of living as their top priorities heading into the midterms, and simultaneously lose faith in Trump and congressional Republicans to lower costs and right the economy. Americans are sinking under Trump’s high prices and will find no relief in terms of a restful summer vacation.
Coverage of Groundwork’s summer pricing report with The Century Foundation:
- Scripps News, “Memorial Day barbecues to cost more this year as food, gas prices surge”
- “Staying home for Memorial Day weekend is still going to cost you this year. That’s according to a new analysis shared exclusively with Scripps News that found barbecue staples like burgers, hot dogs and watermelon are up an average of 13% in 2026 compared to last year.”
- “The report from progressive think tanks The Century Foundation (TCF) and Groundwork Collaborative is just the latest data point documenting the rapid surge in prices impacting U.S. consumers since the Iran conflict began.”
- “‘Inflation is not just concentrated in these must-have meats. Consumers are going to see price hikes across the board at the grocery store,’ Breyon Williams, chief economist at Groundwork Collaborative, told Scripps News in an interview. ‘It’s way more expensive this year to host and to implement your traditional cookout than it was last year.’”
- USA Today, “Memorial Day weekend will be more expensive. Are there ways to save?”
- “’It’s going to be virtually impossible to avoid price hikes for summer fun, whether that’s a road trip, that’s a flight, a vacation, whether that’s a couple nights in a hotel, or whether that’s a backyard barbecue,’ Lindsay Owens, Groundwork Collaborative’s executive director, said. ‘If you sit inside and watch TV, you’re going to be paying more for your AC.’”
- “’You don’t pay separately for your energy costs when you stay at a hotel,’ Owens said. ‘Hotels are cranking up ACs in the summer, and their energy prices and costs are going to rise, and they’re going to pass that along to consumers.’”
- MarketWatch, “5 ways to stretch your Memorial Day BBQ budget as burgers cost 20% more this year”
- “The price of a pound of ground beef has reached a historic high of $6.89, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show, meaning throwing burgers on the grill will cost nearly 20% more than in 2025. The cost of toppings and sides are up, too: Lettuce, tomatoes, hot dogs, beer and soda helped push the average price of the classic Memorial Day menu up 13% from a year ago, according to an analysis from the advocacy groups the Century Foundation and Groundwork Collaborative.”
- The Cool Down, “Memorial Day cookout sticker shock hits as barbecue staples jump 13% in price and corn nearly doubles”
- “A new analysis by the Century Foundation and Groundwork Collaborative found that classic barbecue foods now cost an average of 13% more than they did a year ago, putting fresh pressure on holiday budgets at a time when many households are already stretched thin.”
- “The report is another sign of fast-rising prices affecting U.S. consumers since the conflict in Iran began. Breyon Williams, the chief economist at Groundwork Collaborative, told Scripps News that shoppers should expect the rising costs to go beyond just meat. For example, travel is getting more expensive too, with the cost of gas hitting over a dollar and a half per gallon higher than before the conflict in Iran began.”
- Senate Banking Committee Democrats, “Trump is making your Memorial Day more expensive”
- “New data from The Century Foundation and Groundwork Collaborative highlights what families are facing at the checkout line. A burger and its fixings – a staple of a Memorial Day cookout – are dramatically more expensive than they were a year ago: ground beef is up 20 percent, tomatoes up 22 percent, lettuce up 19 percent, ketchup up 14 percent, pickles up 12 percent, and hamburger buns up 4 percent. And if you’re serving corn on the side? You’ll pay nearly double what you did last Memorial Day.”
