Inflation, Mortgage, Energy, Grocery Costs On The Rise; 54% of Rockland Families Struggle To Make Ends Meet
After a short reprieve from $4.00 per gallon gas prices this summer, prices in Rockland County have spiked to $5.00 per gallon. According to AAA, prices in Rockland County range from $4.55 per gallon t0 $4.99, with many stations charging more than $5.00 for credit card purchases.
The statewide average, according to AAA is $4.49 per gallon.
Diesel ranges from $6.34 to $6.50 per gallon, and in the New York metropolitan area, diesel sells for $6.90 per gallon. As most goods are transported via diesel trucks, the increased cost of delivering everything continues to be reflected in the current inflation numbers.
In the New York metropolitan area, including Rockland County, inflation hovered around 4.3% in August of 2026. Inflation data for September is not yet available.
Following recent inflation data, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, with officials signaling that further hikes may be on the table. On September 16, 2026, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 3.75% to 4.00%, marking its first rate increase since 2023.
This month, New York will begin rolling out Inflation Refund Checks as part of the state budget to help offset rising living costs.
Eligible New Yorkers will automatically receive direct payments. No application is required, with payments as follows:
- Single Filers (Income up to $75,000): $200
- Single Filers (Income $75,001 – $150,000): $150
- Joint Filers (Income up to $150,000): $400
- Joint Filers (Income $150,001 – $300,000): $300
In a broader economic context, rising oil prices and climbing business costs have pushed bond yields higher, keeping inflation at the forefront of the economic conversation.
U.S. Treasury yields jumped sharply recently, with the 10-year yield briefly hitting 5.10%—levels not seen since 2007—as stronger-than-expected business activity, sticky inflation fears, and elevated oil prices fuel worries about more Federal Reserve rate hikes.
Reports from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show that consumers remain closely tuned to price shifts, particularly around gas and everyday household goods.
Driven by the same inflationary pressures hitting consumers, mortgage rates in New York have surpassed the 7% mark. The average benchmark rate in New York for a 30-year fixed mortgage is 7.1%. 15-year fixed rate mortgages are available for an average of 6.58% and 30-year Jumbo mortgage rates average 7.15%.
Energy prices remain stubbornly high with New York residential electricity prices ranking among the highest nationwide, roughly 56% to 70% above the U.S. average. High natural gas demand and geopolitical conflicts (like the war involving Iran) have driven up fossil fuel and wholesale generation costs.
In August 2026, the overall New York State unemployment rate was 4.3%, while the state’s poverty rate remains localized near 14%. Both metrics reveal sharp contrasts between high-cost metropolitan hubs, the downstate suburbs, and rural upstate counties.
The poverty rate in Rockland County, NY sits between 15.2% and 16.3%, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Census Reporter. This is roughly 20% higher than the statewide average of 14%.
Baseline federal poverty measurements only count those under the official poverty line, local assessments reveal much more widespread economic strain here in Rockland County.
An analysis prepared for the United Way of Rockland County revealed that more than 50% of Rockland households live below the ALICE threshold (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). The cohort is made up of working families with incomes above the federal poverty level that cannot afford the basic local costs of living in the county.
Around 54% of Rockland County households fall below the ALICE threshold according to the 2026 United Way ALICE Report, meaning over 56,000 families in Rockland struggle to afford basic necessities despite a county median household income of $103,847.
The expenses tracked in the report calculate the real, local costs for housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, and technology.
The report also describes a 4 percent increase in families struggling to meet basic needs over a three-year span, with many local families just one emergency away from financial ruin.
Editor’s Note: For many months, when the government ceased publishing data, RCBJ has paused its “Price Tracker” — a tool enabling readers to see the effects on prices for various commodities from January 2024 through July 2026. Now with data available again, we are back online. Just one caveat: data was blacked out during the government shutdown in October, 2025. There have also been a few holes in the data, and where those holes appear, rather than extrapolate the data, we simply left the month blank. The blanks appear as a gap in the graphs below.
The categories we are tracking are:
- Whole Milk
- Grade A Large Eggs
- Navel Oranges
- Tomatoes, Field Grown
- Ground Chuck, 100% Beef
- Chicken, Fresh, Whole
- Electricity Per KWH
- Gasoline, Regular Unleaded
- Unemployment Rate
- 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate (Average)
- Coffee, 100% Ground Roast
Scroll down to view the data.
