Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.8 percent for the two months ending in April 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the April increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and gasoline. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 3.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 3.1 percent. Energy prices advanced 18.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA, April 2021–April 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2021	3.8	2.9
Jun 2021	3.2	2.3
Aug 2021	3.7	2.5
Oct 2021	3.8	2.4
Dec 2021	4.2	2.8
Feb 2022	5.2	3.4
Apr 2022	5.0	2.7
Jun 2022	6.8	4.4
Aug 2022	5.7	4.1
Oct 2022	6.0	4.1
Dec 2022	4.9	4.0
Feb 2023	5.3	4.6
Apr 2023	4.2	4.7
Jun 2023	2.9	3.9
Aug 2023	3.4	3.6
Oct 2023	2.8	3.1
Dec 2023	2.6	2.5
Feb 2024	2.4	2.2
Apr 2024	3.8	3.1

Food prices were unchanged for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.9 percent, with lower prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 1.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 3.1 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.5 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (12.1 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 4.4 percent.

The energy index rose 8.5 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (20.1 percent). Prices for electricity rose 0.3 percent, while prices for natural gas service decreased 15.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 18.0 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (24.4 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service advanced 14.7 percent, and prices for gasoline advanced 12.2 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (13.3 percent) and shelter (1.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-0.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (13.2 percent) and shelter (2.9 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in new and used motor vehicles (-1.5 percent).

The June 2024 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.

The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 retail establishments—department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. NOTE: Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo Counties in the State of California.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	Apr. 2023	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		345.151	-	351.247	3.8	1.8	-
All items (1967=100)		1,061.089	-	1,079.830	-	-	-
Food and beverages		369.175	-	369.070	3.5	0.0	-
Food		372.025	-	371.953	3.1	0.0	-
Food at home		337.705	335.599	334.687	2.5	-0.9	-0.3
Cereals and bakery products		341.261	335.455	338.361	4.1	-0.8	0.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		352.233	355.660	352.382	1.3	0.0	-0.9
Dairy and related products		332.577	336.841	342.013	3.0	2.8	1.5
Fruits and vegetables		436.079	439.412	428.608	-0.3	-1.7	-2.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		261.332	247.089	253.426	12.1	-3.0	2.6
Other food at home		295.399	293.820	292.229	1.4	-1.1	-0.5
Food away from home		413.574	-	418.167	4.4	1.1	-
Alcoholic beverages		336.159	-	335.512	7.6	-0.2	-
Housing		400.750	-	406.337	3.6	1.4	-
Shelter		443.865	447.747	451.395	2.9	1.7	0.8
Rent of primary residence(2)		503.938	506.000	504.927	2.1	0.2	-0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		475.570	476.261	477.504	1.5	0.4	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		475.570	476.261	477.504	1.5	0.4	0.3
Fuels and utilities		646.485	-	632.424	16.1	-2.2	-
Household energy		634.527	621.674	612.395	22.9	-3.5	-1.5
Energy services(2)		639.406	626.248	616.600	23.4	-3.6	-1.5
Electricity(2)		728.997	730.759	731.389	24.4	0.3	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		476.774	432.650	401.648	14.7	-15.8	-7.2
Household furnishings and operations		172.101	-	174.413	0.8	1.3	-
Apparel		112.180	-	127.051	13.2	13.3	-
Transportation		256.537	-	270.807	6.4	5.6	-
Private transportation		254.169	-	268.135	5.7	5.5	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		118.298	-	120.198	-1.5	1.6	-
New vehicles(1)		193.419	-	192.662	-1.8	-0.4	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		325.453	-	327.027	-6.4	0.5	-
Motor fuel		331.815	359.973	397.919	12.1	19.9	10.5
Gasoline (all types)		329.546	357.710	395.754	12.2	20.1	10.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		328.983	357.618	396.228	12.3	20.4	10.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		308.411	333.917	368.506	12.0	19.5	10.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		314.537	339.665	373.861	12.0	18.9	10.1
Medical care		586.760	-	587.011	0.6	0.0	-
Recreation(6)		149.805	-	148.629	2.8	-0.8	-
Education and communication(6)		161.437	-	163.130	1.9	1.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,951.663	-	1,966.792	-	0.8	-
Other goods and services		617.911	-	626.628	4.2	1.4	-
Commodity and service group
All items		345.151	-	351.247	3.8	1.8	-
Commodities		231.401	-	238.131	2.0	2.9	-
Commodities less food & beverages		161.576	-	170.688	1.6	5.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		213.382	-	233.034	5.3	9.2	-
Durables		112.659	-	114.414	-2.5	1.6	-
Services		441.194	-	446.721	4.6	1.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		335.127	-	341.467	4.0	1.9	-
All items less shelter		306.843	-	312.421	4.4	1.8	-
Commodities less food		169.056	-	178.134	1.9	5.4	-
Nondurables		292.666	-	302.437	4.0	3.3	-
Nondurables less food		222.891	-	241.671	5.7	8.4	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		464.780	-	467.275	7.6	0.5	-
Services less medical care services		430.366	-	436.347	4.8	1.4	-
Energy		449.829	464.887	487.966	18.0	8.5	5.0
All items less energy		344.555	-	349.467	3.1	1.4	-
All items less food and energy		341.209	-	346.935	3.1	1.7	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.