Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee shoppers frustrated by grocery prices as election year nears
Wisconsinites share their thoughts on recent grocery prices
Wisconsinites share their thoughts on recent grocery prices and how it’s effecting their daily shopping habbits.
Adriana Maldonado is a yoga therapist in Wauwatosa with two children at home and three who are grown up that she tries to help with groceries. She has a one-word description for the economy.
“Awful.”
Maldonado said she’s had to pick up extra work to pay bills and other expenses.
“I also bartend at Gibraltar’s, and I also drive for Veyo, which picks up medical patients,” Maldonado said. “And whatever odds and ends I can do, I will do.”
Maldonado added she has cut back on some spending.
“I had to get rid of car insurance for a little while and then I just picked up a cheaper (policy),” Maldonado said. “I cut back on any eating out.”
Maldonado said her faith in the political system and in politicians is broken.
“This is just playing a game on humans,” Maldonado said of the political process.
Maldonado said she encourages people to shop at small local businesses.
“Stop shopping at large companies, come to more local places, put money back into our community,” Maldonado said. “It makes more sense. If we continue to shop the big (stores) we’re going to lose people. There’s so many businesses closing right now, it’s so sad.”
Maldonado is in the sweet spot for one of the most consequential discussions happening across the country: How is the country doing economically? Is daily life affordable? Are we facing sticker shock at the grocery store?
And the enduring political question: Are we better off today than the last time we voted?
President Donald Trump says the Golden Age is upon us, complaints about affordability are a hoax, and any concerns are the fault of the Biden administration combined with the Federal Reserve’s refusal to slash interest rates.
Countering that perspective:
- National consumer sentiment sits near all-time lows, according to the University of Michigan’s monthly survey. The latest survey released Dec. 5 found sentiment improved slightly from November but remained 28 percentage points below December 2024 levels. “Consumers see modest improvements from November on a few dimensions, but the overall tenor of views is broadly somber, as consumers continue to cite the burden of high prices,” University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said.
- The U.S. job market is showing signs of slowing, adding just 64,000 jobs in November, according to the most recent employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest in four years. Preliminary data for October 2025 released Dec. 16 showed a loss of 105,000 jobs that month, largely driven by layoffs of federal workers.
- The Urban Institute reported in October that Americans are struggling to afford essentials like food, childcare and housing. Nearly four in five Americans believe the U.S. economy will not improve in the year ahead.
- The U.S. job market has been stagnant in recent months, and paycheck growth has been falling steadily for more than three years.
- Consumers never adjusted to the supply chain chaos and dramatic rise in prices during the COVID pandemic. Many of those prices never came down. “The price level changed so much because we had such high inflation for a couple of years there and you’re continuing to add inflation to an already high price level … people haven’t had time to adjust to that,” said Dominic Ceci, chief investing officer for Johnson Financial Group. “In the last five years, we’ve had more inflation than we did in a long time. If you think about prices in 2020, pre-pandemic versus now, it’s a huge difference. It’s a whiplash effect.”
Marquette Poll indicates widespread pessimism
According to the most recent Marquette Law School Poll, 47% of those surveyed in early November said their groceries have “gone up a lot,” and 28% said groceries have “gone up a little.”
In the same poll, people were asked to predict if the cost of living would increase, decrease or stay the same in the next 12 months. Two-thirds said they expect the cost of living to go up.
Historically, the party in power performs poorly in midterm elections. That means Republicans and Trump are running short on time to change people’s minds, according to Marquette Law School Poll director Charles Franklin.
“He is now suffering from this widespread perception, and especially with swing voters, these policies aren’t helping inflation, they’re really exacerbating it,” Franklin said. “That’s tied to tariffs but also other things.”
The widespread frustration with the economy helped Democratic candidates in New York, Virginia, New Jersey and Miami win races in 2025.
“Politicians need to react to that,” Ceci said of voters’ feelings on the economy. “There’s some stuff they can do. There’s tax policy. There’s all kinds of things, but is it realistic that any of that gets done or gets done effectively? Probably not. You really need all of the people to come together to agree to pass bills and make things happen.”
People coming together is not exactly a hallmark of today’s politics.
Milwaukee resident Blanca Rivera, a former parent educator with Bay View Community Center, said food in particular has gotten more expensive. She has three children, and two of them have already moved out or contribute financially to her household.
Even with fewer people to feed, Rivera said she’s spending around $400 per week on food for her family.
“The same amount of money that we spend now for only us three, it’s the same amount of money I used to spend for four to six people before,” said Rivera, who sometimes also shops for other relatives.
To save money, Rivera has cut back on trips to see family members in El Salvador. She used to visit at least two or three times per year, but her budget now only allows for one.
“When you want to go over there, you don’t want to go empty handed. You wanted to bring something” for relatives, Rivera said. “I used to bring seven luggage bags – now I bring two.”
Rivera is also reducing personal care-related expenses to save more money for her family’s more basic needs.
“Before, I used to go and do my nails, my hair, maybe go to buy a nice perfume,” she said. “Now, I’ve got to wait three, four months to do my hair.”
The Journal Sentinel went shopping last year. And then went back.
President Trump said prices would start falling shortly after he took office in January 2025, and in recent months said his administration is bringing down some prices and slowing inflation.
But lower prices have not been seen in Milwaukee area grocery stores.
In August 2024, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel collected the price of a basket of groceries at five Milwaukee-area stores: Walmart, Pick ‘n Save, Target, Festival Foods and Woodman’s.
On Dec. 2, 2025, the Journal Sentinel returned to the same stores to compare how prices changed over the past 16 months. Totals were collected using the same list of common staple items across all five stores. Name brand items were purchased; some stores offer house brands that would significantly bring down prices.
The full grocery list was:
- Almond Milk: 64 ounces
- 100% whole wheat bread: 24-ounce loaf
- Bacon: one pound
- Bananas
- Beef: one pound, 80% lean, not certified Angus
- Butter: one pound
- Cheerios: 8.9-ounce box
- Cheez-its: 12.4-ounce box
- Eggs: one dozen
- Flour: five pounds
- Green beans (canned)
- Strawberry jelly/jam: 18 ounces
- Iceberg lettuce: one head
- Milk: one gallon
- Oranges
- Paper towel: two-roll package
- Peanut butter: 18 ounces
- Toilet paper: six pack
At Walmart, 401 E. Capitol Drive in Milwaukee, the cost was $63.84 in August 2024, and $69.31 on Dec. 2 2025, up around 8.6%. Walmart remains the cheapest of the five stores.
At Woodman’s, 8131 S. Howell Ave. in Oak Creek, the cost was $61.38 in 2024 and $69.80 on Dec. 2, an increase of 13.7%.
At Festival Foods, 11111 W. Greenfield Ave., in West Allis, the cost was $85.62 in 2024 and $94.58 on Dec. 2, an increase of 10.5%.
At Target, 2950 S. Chase Ave., in Milwaukee, the cost was $69.88 in 2024 and $70.21 on Dec. 2, an increase of 0.5%. However, this Target does not carry a name-brand bag of flour, the house brand was substituted, likely lowering the overall cost.
Finally, at Pick ‘n Save, 605 E. Lyon St. in Milwaukee, the price was $83.18 in 2024 and $81.53 on Dec. 2. That’s a decrease of 2%.
Substituting store-brand alternatives for name-brand grocery items does offer some savings for customers. For example, Pick ‘n Save’s store-brand grocery list cost $57.33 in December.
Some items fluctuated wildly in price since August 2024. A bird flu epidemic drove national egg prices to more than $6 per dozen in March 2025. Prices have dropped significantly since then, but the national average price of a dozen eggs in September 2025 remained above August 2024 levels.
The cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs at the five Milwaukee-area stores ranged from $1.97 to $2.49 on Dec. 2.
Is the affordability issue overblown?
Chris Dare was at the Milwaukee Public Market with his son Jake and noticed that meat prices were higher than at their butcher shop back home in Oshkosh.
Still, both wondered if the broad reaction to elevated prices wasn’t a bit exaggerated.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as people are making it sound,” Chris Dare said. “The disappointing thing for me was COVID was an open door for prices to go up, with somewhat legitimate reasons, but of course when those reasons went away, prices didn’t go back down, which we knew was going to happen.”
His son Jake believes candidates will “weaponize” prices in upcoming elections.
“The cost of living and the cost of buying things, the purchasing power of the wages you make is going to affect politics,” Jake Dare said. “After the elections come and go, I think it’ll flatten back out again and you’ll have two years of, probably, steady increases … it’s cyclical, any time the elections come around.”
Both father and son think about how prices impact them when they go to the polls, and they encourage other voters to research candidates and vote based on what impacts them personally.
“I don’t think anybody wants to admit it,” Chris Dare said, but “let’s be realistic, I’m voting 100% selfishly how things affect me.”
Chris and Jake consider themselves conservative, but question what Trump could do in the near-term to lower prices.
“And unfortunately I don’t think any president has that much immediate control over the economy,” Chris Dare said. “As much as you’d like to have somebody march in and suddenly things turn around. … it doesn’t happen that quickly on the economy side.”
Shoppers want specifics from candidates on solutions
Karen and Lee Veldboom live in the city of Waukesha and have learned to be more selective when at the grocery store.
“We don’t buy beef,” Karen Veldboom said, adding that her family has cut back on sweets and other treats as well. “Everything is so volatile right now, you kind of go with what it is.”
Both believe prices and the economy will play a role in how people vote in 2026. And both yearn for the days of more civility and less anger.
“We lean conservative but there’s so much craziness going on now, you don’t even know who to support,” Lee Veldboom said. “You can’t go two days in a row without hearing something totally outrageous.”
Heather Wiese from Pewaukee has taken up thrift shopping since doing it with her daughter in 2020.
It’s a good way for her to save money and support smaller businesses, she said.
But it’s a different feeling at the grocery store.
“Prices are high, holy moly,” Wiese said. “The price of beef is way up. The price of everything is way up.”
Wiese doesn’t expect the issue of affordability to go away anytime soon.
“People really can’t afford a lot of stuff right now,” Wiese said.
What she doesn’t want to hear is a lot of rhetoric without specifics.
“I would like more details,” Wiese said. “I don’t think on day one everything is going to go down.”
Despite promises, they certainly haven’t in the past.
The grocery bill is just one of many factors affecting households each month. Here’s the price of other common household expenses as of Dec. 16, 2025, compared to a year ago:
- Gas, Milwaukee- Waukesha metro average: $2.499
- Utility Bill, Typical We Energies customer: $135.94 per month
- 30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate, U.S. average: 6.22%
- Rent, Milwaukee average: $1,250
MILWAUKEE – Forecast from FOX6 Meteorologist Lisa Michaels
Partly sunny skies on Saturday with a slight chance for a few sprinkles or a shower.
Temperatures warmer on Saturday in the mid to upper 60s. Isolated 70s near the border. Breezy with winds gusting near 30mph.
Cooler temperatures in the upper 50s on Sunday (Mother’s Day) with increasing clouds. Patchy frost Saturday night into Sunday and Sunday night into Monday.
Next chance of rain and storms arrives on Tuesday.
Today: Partly sunny. A few showers possible. Breezy.
High: 67°
Wind: NW 10-25
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Patchy frost.
Low: 42°
Wind: NW 5-10
Sunday: Increasing clouds.
High: 57°
Wind: NW 5-15
Monday: Mostly sunny.
AM Low: 39° High: 59°
Wind: E 5-10
Tuesday: Warm and windy. Chance storms.
AM Low: 42° High: 68°
Wind: SW 10-25
Wednesday:Partly sunny.
AM Low: 46° High: 59°
Wind: NW 5-15
Thursday: Mostly sunny.
AM Low: 42° High: 64°
Wind: S 5-10
6-day planner
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
FOX Weather
Big picture view:
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
Milwaukee, WI
Bobby Portis and his mom share the story behind his foundation while honoring Milwaukee teachers
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Bobby Portis Foundation hosted a luncheon Friday at Roosevelt Middle School to honor teachers — many of whom are also mothers — with Mother’s Day and Teacher Appreciation Week overlapping on the calendar.
Portis and his mother, Tina Edwards, spent the day celebrating educators and reflecting on the mission behind the foundation.
“We just want to make sure that we let the teachers know you are appreciated because sometimes it goes beyond being a parent at home, but sometimes teachers are parents at school,” Edwards explained.
Ariel Campos, TMJ4 Sports
For Portis, a forward for the Milwaukee Bucks, the foundation has always been rooted in one person.
“The Bobby Portis Foundation has always just been solely based upon really my mom, and that’s the inspiration behind it,” Portis said.
WATCH: Bobby Portis and his mom share the story behind his foundation
Bobby Portis and his mom share the story behind his foundation while honoring Milwaukee teachers
Growing up, Portis watched his mother raise four boys on her own.
“My mom worked tirelessly to take care of all four of us,” Portis said.
Edwards made sacrifices for her sons from the very beginning — including turning down a basketball scholarship after becoming pregnant with Bobby.
“I still was offered a scholarship after I had him, but I wanted to choose him over ball,” Edwards said.
Tina Edwards
That sacrifice brought her full circle through her son’s career.
“With Bobby becoming an NBA player, he’s living my dream, and I’m living the dream through him,” Edwards shared.
For Portis, the event was an opportunity to honor everything his mother has given him.
“I can’t just put into words what my mom has done for me, not only for my basketball career – that’s just like a small portion of my life – I’m talking about just me as a human being, as a man. I mean, I didn’t have a dad growing up, so my mom played both roles. She did a hell of a job raising not only me but my three other brothers,” Portis said.
His grandmother’s message to spread his blessings continues to drive his work.
“Being able to be in a position now to have a voice, to have a platform, to give back, to help inspire. I try to use it to the best of my abilities,” Portis said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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MILWAUKEE — Saturday is the start of the food truck curfew in downtown Milwaukee. That curfew was passed by the Common Council to address safety concerns after several violent incidents.
Alma Juarez is with Tacos Almita on Water Street in downtown Milwaukee. Juarez said since the city passed the curfew, she’s had just over two weeks to adjust.
“We’re trying to think what we’re going to do,” said Juarez. “Maybe we’re going to start in another place or move the food truck after 10 p.m., but that means we have to start over again.”
She said that means she may also have to start building up a news customer base.
“Moving the truck means that… we have to struggle,” said Juarez.
Juarez is not alone in worrying about her financial future.
Last Thursday, a group of owners took their concerns to city hall. Jennifer Martinez, who’s with the food truck known as Tacos El Pastorcito Mixe, was at that demonstration. She said the late-night hours make up roughly 75% of her revenue.
“During the day, I’ve tried opening very early in the morning — 8 a.m. 9 a.m. — it doesn’t make a difference. There’s no… we don’t have much sales throughout the day,” said Martinez.
Ald. Robert Bauman represents downtown and was the sponsor of the ordinance.
Last week he told Spectrum News that he’s aware of the economic burden the truck operators are facing. However, he said safety concerns are a bigger priority.
“And MPD (Milwaukee Police Department) has said on the record repeatedly that food trucks are a major contributing cause for the loitering and disorder that takes place on Water Street,” said Bauman, who represents District 4 in Milwaukee.
He said he’s willing to take a hit on food trucks and prioritize the concerns of larger businesses.
“If they feel that downtown is not safe anymore, they’ll either not come at all, or they’ll leave as soon as their event is over with and not spend any additional money in the downtown area,” said Bauman.
But Juarez said the city shouldn’t have to do that. She said she believes food trucks aren’t the cause of the problem.
“You can see it in any places, but not here,” said Juarez. “It can happen here, but not in front of the food trucks cause they are saying that a lot of violence, a lot of the things that are going on is in front of the food truck. You can see that all the shooting happens after 1 a.m. or 3 a.m. Last shooting, it was after 1 a.m.”
Food truck owners said they hope to continue to turn a profit after the ordinance starts, but they said they face a potentially tough financial future.
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