3 Best Consumer Staples ETFs to Buy as Inflation Rises

I’m not telling you anything new; rising prices are putting a big dent in our pocketbooks.

And with essentials like housing, transportation and food accounting for such a large share of household budgets, even modest price increases can put additional pressure on consumers.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Americans spend their money across the following major categories:

• Housing: 33.9% of total spending (including rent, utilities and household operations)
• Transportation: 16.5% (including vehicle purchases, gasoline, public transit and vehicle maintenance)
• Food: 13.0% (including groceries and dining out)
• Personal Insurance and Pensions: 12.4%
• Healthcare: 8.0%
• Entertainment: 5.0%
• Apparel and Services: 2.5%

Housing is the single largest household expense, followed by transportation and food. Together, these three categories account for more than 63% of consumer spending. Housing and food alone represent nearly 47%.

That leaves relatively little room in the average household budget to absorb rising prices, particularly when the cost of necessities continues to climb.

Further boosted by September’s 3.7% inflation rate (up from 3.4% in August), total U.S. consumer spending (measured as Personal Consumption Expenditures, or PCE) reached $16.9 trillion in the third quarter of 2026. That’s a sharp rise from full-year 2024 PCE spending of $19.9 trillion.

Although spending on luxury goods and travel is still increasing for the wealthy (who are benefiting from record stock market gains), the rising costs of essentials like gas and food are decreasing the available dollars for regular folks to have fun, led by the escalating price of oil:

• Gasoline: Jumped 9.1% in September and 34.2% over the last 12 months, accounting for over half of the overall monthly increase in consumer prices.
• Fuel Oil: Increased significantly by 74.2% year over year.
• Overall Energy Index: Rose 5.2% in September alone.
• Shelter / Housing: Rose 0.4% in September and is up 3.2% over the past year.
• Food: The overall 12-month food index is up 2.5%.

As a result, consumers are tightening their belts on spending on discretionary retail, expensive hobbies, and travel and are turning toward more frugal fun like staycations and do-it-yourself hobbies.

And a further sad consequence of all of these rising costs is that consumer debt has been mounting, reaching $18.8 trillion in the second quarter, with credit card/bankcard balances representing $1.26 trillion (up $21 billion or +1.7% in Q2, nearing the all-time peak of $1.28 trillion, and up $54 billion from a year earlier).

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I’m writing this on election day eve, with the thought that if we have a blue sweep, we can expect some changes in prices, but I don’t believe they will happen overnight.

Not much we can do about that! But in the meantime, why not take advantage of the sectors that are benefiting from these price escalations? Let’s invest in consumer staples, a category that has already seen an almost 17% rise in stock prices this year.

With that in mind, I looked at a fair number of consumer staples ETFs and think the following three may still be attractive for investors. I’ve listed their portfolio weightings so you can decide which might best fit into your overall strategy.

3 Best Consumer Staples ETFs to Buy

S&P 500 Consumer Staples Sector SPDR (XLP)

Morningstar Rating: 4 Stars

iShares U.S. Consumer Goods ETF (IYK)

Morningstar Rating: 4 Stars

Invesco S&P 500 E.W. Consumer Staples ETF (RSPS)*

Morningstar Rating: 2 Stars
*E.W. means equally weighted.

Each of these consumer staples ETFs can offer a way to invest in companies that supply everyday necessities, potentially providing a measure of stability as inflation pressures household budgets

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