Polls indicate that inflation and cost of living are at the top of Americans’ list of concerns. For statistics on cost-of-goods inflation, we look to the Chapwood Index (https://chapwoodindex.com), which monitors the quarterly price increase or decrease of the most popular 150 items that people use throughout their lifetime (such as tolls, cable TV, gasoline, laundry detergent, pet food, school supplies, toothpaste, mobile phone service, home repairs, light bulbs, fast food restaurants, Internet service, and taxes). The Chapwood Index reflects a more realistic inflation rate being seen across the U.S. as compared to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). (The Chapwood Index website describes the full approach.) To put this in perspective, the cities listed below experienced some of the highest inflation rates on cost of goods from 2022 to 2025 (compounded). These are merely examples, of course; every city is seeing crazy inflation rates, and some products have more than…