Core Insights - The American economy is showing resilience as families, workers, and local businesses adapt in 2025, according to DoorDash's first-ever State of Local Commerce report [1] Group 1: Economic Trends - Grocery prices are easing, with DoorDash's Breakfast Basics Index showing a 14 percent decrease from March to September 2025 [3] - The cost of everyday essentials like diapers and toilet paper remained steady during the same period [3] - Families in cities like Lincoln, Milwaukee, and Detroit can stretch their dollars further, with the DoorDash Cheeseburger Index indicating that their purchasing power is twice that of other major metros [3] Group 2: Local Business Resilience - 93 percent of local restaurants active on DoorDash in September 2025 are still operational, highlighting the resilience of neighborhood businesses [4] - New restaurant activity has increased by 18 percent since last September, with cities like Laredo, Milwaukee, and Saint Paul experiencing the highest growth [4] Group 3: Urban Recovery - Weekday lunch orders in business districts, a key indicator of in-office work, have risen in over 50 percent of cities, with a nationwide increase of 2.5 percent [6] - Cities such as San Francisco, Chandler, and Austin are leading this resurgence, with growth rates six times higher than the national average [6] Group 4: Flexible Work Trends - The number of individuals participating in flexible work has significantly increased, with the ratio rising from fewer than one in 200 in 2019 to about one in 15 [7] - Half of the Dashers balance other jobs across various industries, and most work fewer than four hours per week delivering [7] Group 5: Family Relocation Patterns - Families are increasingly moving to mid-sized and more affordable cities like Lubbock, Gilbert, and El Paso, where they can achieve a better quality of life and stretch their paychecks further [8]