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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Consumer Price Index > Methods > Additional Resources

Consumer Price Index Geographic Revision for 2018

Starting in 2002, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) moved away from comprehensive revisions implemented every ten years or so in favor of incremental updates implemented on an ongoing basis. For example, expenditure weight updates are now introduced every two years, and item structure changes occur whenever they are deemed appropriate given changes in the marketplace. One element of the CPI that has not seen more frequent revisions, however, is the geographic sample.

In January 2018, BLS will introduce a new geographic area sample for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The last time the sample was revised was in 1998. The new sample consists of 75 urban areas—large, medium, and small. There are 87 urban areas in the current sample.

Changes to the Geographic Structure

The CPI geographic sample is selected to be representative of the demographics of the United States. The 2018 revision utilizes the 2010 Decennial Census and it incorporates an updated area sample design, changes the frequency of publication for several local area indexes, and establishes some new local area and aggregate indexes. It also introduces Census division-level indexes.

Core Based Statistical Areas

For the 2018 revision, primary sampling units (PSUs) are defined using Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA) definitions. This is different from the previous definition of PSUs as metropolitan statistical areas.

Table 1. Publication differences between the old and the new geographic sample designs
	Number of areas published	Number of areas published monthly	Number of areas published bimonthly	Number of areas published semi-annually
Old design	27	3	11	13
New design	23	3	20	0

Riverside, CA, which was previously included in the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA MSA, will now be its own CBSA, and will be considered a new index, starting at 100.000. The combined Washington-Baltimore index (one of the bimonthly indexes) will be discontinued. The Washington and Baltimore areas will be independent CBSAs. The new CBSAs for Washington and Baltimore will be considered continuous with the independent areas Washington (A312) and Baltimore (A313) under the old schedule. Existing indexes for A312 and A313, not previously published for January 1998-December 2017, will be published, with a footnote to indicate that indexes are based on a substantially smaller sample, and allowing the post-revision indexes to be continuous back to 1914.

Under the old design, indexes were published for Pittsburgh PA, Cincinnati-Hamilton OH-KY-IN, Cleveland-Akron OH, Milwaukee-Racine WI, and Portland-Salem OR-WA. Because they did not meet a population threshold, they will not be published under the new design. In addition, the index for Kansas City MO-KS will no longer be published because it was not selected as part of the sample.

Table 2. Publication list of CBSAs including publication frequency and schedule
New CBSA	Old MSA	New Publication		Old Publication
New CBSA	Old MSA	Frequency	Schedule	Frequency	Schedule
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI	Monthly	Monthly	Monthly	Monthly
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA	Monthly	Monthly	Monthly	Monthly
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA	Monthly	Monthly	Monthly	Monthly
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	Atlanta, GA	Bimonthly	Even months	Bimonthly	Even months
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD- VA-WV	Bimonthly	Even months	Bimonthly	Odd months
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	Boston-Brockton-Nashua, MA-NH- ME-CT	Bimonthly	Odd months	Bimonthly	Odd months
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	Bimonthly	Odd months	Bimonthly	Odd months
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO	Denver-Boulder-Greeley, CO	Bimonthly	Odd months	Semi-annual	Semi-annual
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI	Bimonthly	Even months	Bimonthly	Even months
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX	Bimonthly	Even months	Bimonthly	Even months
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL	Bimonthly	Even months	Bimonthly	Even months
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI	Bimonthly	Odd months	Semi-annual	Semi-annual
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	Philadelphia-Wilmington- Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD	Bimonthly	Even months	Bimonthly	Even months
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	Phoenix-Mesa, AZ	Bimonthly	Even months	Semi-annual	Semi-annual
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA	Bimonthly	Odd months	Monthly	Monthly
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA	San Diego, CA	Bimonthly	Odd months	Semi-annual	Semi-annual
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA	Bimonthly	Even months	Bimonthly	Even months
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA	Bimonthly	Even months	Bimonthly	Even months
St. Louis, MO-IL	St. Louis, MO-IL	Bimonthly	Even months	Semi-annual	Semi-annual
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	Bimonthly	Odd months	Semi-annual	Semi-annual
Urban Alaska	Anchorage, AK	Bimonthly	Even months	Semi-annual	Semi-annual
Urban Hawaii	Honolulu, HI	Bimonthly	Odd months	Semi-annual	Semi-annual
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD- VA-WV	Bimonthly	Odd months	Bimonthly	Odd months

Region, division, and size-class indexes

Two additional major changes with the new design are: (1) the number of size classes and (2) the publication of Census division-level indexes in addition to the current Census region-level indexes. Under the area redesign, the CPI now has two size classes, A and B/C (corresponding to population size greater than 2,500,000 for size class A and 2,500,000 or less for size class B/C), rather than the three size classes under the old design (A, B/C, and D, with population size of more than 1,500,000 for size class A, 50,000 to 1,500,000 for size class B/C, and less than 50,000 for size class D). The current size class B/C and size class D are consolidated in order to reduce small sample bias and to reduce the standard error of indexes.

Census regions are now split into divisions, three in the South and two each in the Northeast, Midwest, and West.

Table 3. Published monthly region and division indexes in 2018
	Northeast	Midwest	South	West
Divisions	New England	East North Central	South Atlantic	Mountain
	Middle Atlantic	West North Central	East South Central	Pacific
			West South Central

BLS will continue to publish monthly region-size class indexes for A-sized and B/C-sized cities in the four regions. Additional information is available in the Monthly Labor Review article The 2018 revision of the Consumer Price Index geographic sample.

Publication of additional items below the national level

The following items will be published at the region, division, and area level. Series for new areas will have a base period of December 2017=100; base periods for continuing areas will vary by area.

Table 4. Newly published items below the national level
Item name	Item code
Cereal and bakery products	SAF111
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	SAF112
Dairy and related products	SEFJ
Fruits and vegetables	SAF113
Nonalcoholic beverages	SAF114
Other food at home	SAF115
New and used motor vehicles	SETA (1)
New vehicles	SETA01 (1)
Used cars and trucks	SETA02 (1)
Motor vehicle insurance	SETE
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	SEEB
Footnotes: (1) Currently published at the region level.

Additional Documents:

2018 Geographic Revision Area Concordance (XLSX)
Post-2018 Geographic Revision Mock-Up of CPI Press Release Table 4 (PDF)
2018 Geographic Revision Map (PDF)

Last Modified Date: April 10, 2018