Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said shoppers at all income levels show strain: some visit more often but buy less per trip. He said customers earning $100,000 or more increasingly tell the company they no longer feel like high earners amid inflation.
Vasos said signs of financial stress were visible even before the recent rise in gas prices. The article reports prices above $4 a gallon; Vasos called that a critical threshold that typically prompts a major shift in spending and said high prices are especially challenging for Dollar General’s lower-income core customers.
Bank of America research cited in the article found that households earning $100,000–$150,000 had financial-wellness ratings roughly on par with lower earners in February 2026, carried more debt than the norm and struggled to balance debt repayment with emergency savings. PYMNTS research found 48% of households earning over $100,000 lived paycheck to paycheck in 2024.
