Two-thirds of Americans find groceries unaffordable, Post-Ipsos poll finds

Partisanship continues to play a big role in perceptions, with half of Republicans saying groceries are affordable in the latest poll, compared with about one-quarter of independents and Democrats.

Income also matters, although even in households with income over $100,000, 56 percent said groceries are unaffordable. That rises to 70 percent among households with incomes between $50,000-$100,000 and to 82 percent among those with incomes below $50,000.

Food prices have indeed risen this year, though inflation data doesn’t show a sharp increase in grocery prices. But they have increased more than 18 percent since the beginning of 2022. And rising energy and gasoline costs have weighed on consumers’ budgets this year, making people wary of the economy and continued inflation.

The poll found that 33 percent of people found groceries affordable, down from 54 percent in February. Higher energy costs can lead to higher food prices, because it becomes more expensive to produce and transport groceries around the country.

The Washington Post-Ipsos poll was conducted online July 8-13 among 2,648 U.S. adults nationwide reached through the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, an ongoing panel of U.S. households recruited by mail using random sampling methods. Overall results have a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.