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Consumer Price Index
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CPI Factsheets
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Featured Factsheet: Airline Fares
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Airline Fares
The CPI for airline fares includes all regularly scheduled domestic and international commercial airline trips on certified carriers departing from each city in the CPI sample.
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Featured Factsheet: Average Prices
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Average Prices
With the release of the CPI each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also publishes average retail prices for select utility, automotive fuel, and food items. Although average prices are calculated from the price observations collected for the CPI, they serve a different purpose.
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Featured Factsheet: Personal Computers
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Computers, peripherals, and smart home assistant devices
The CPI for computers, peripherals, and smart home assistant devices includes all types of personal computers such as tablets, desktop computers, notebook computers, computer hardware, and peripheral equipment.
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Featured Factsheet: Household Energy
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Household energy
The CPI for household energy is a component of the fuels and utilities index, which is in the housing major group of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The household energy index measures the price movement of residential energy items used for heating, cooling, lighting, cooking, and other appliances and household equipment.
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Featured Factsheet: Leased Cars and Trucks
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Leased cars and trucks
The CPI for leased cars and trucks covers leases on all classes of new consumer vehicles.
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Featured Factsheet: Medical Care
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Medical care
The medical care index is one of eight major groups in the CPI and is divided into two main components: medical care services and medical care commodities, each containing several item categories.
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Featured Factsheet: Motor Fuel
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Motor fuel
The CPI motor fuel series is composed of indexes for gasoline (all types) and other motor fuels.
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Featured Factsheet: Motor Vehicle Insurance
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Motor vehicle insurance
The CPI for motor vehicle insurance covers physical damage, liability, and miscellaneous insurance coverage for private passenger vehicles.
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Featured Factsheet: New Vehicles
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: New vehicles
The CPI new vehicles series is composed of indexes for new cars and new trucks.
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Featured Factsheet: Telecommunications Services
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Telecommunications Services
The CPI defines telecommunications services as those services associated with wireless and landline telephone communications, internet access, and television services.
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Featured Factsheet: Telephone Hardware
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Telephone hardware, calculators, and other consumer information items
The CPI for telephone hardware, calculators, and other consumer information items reflects price changes for a wide variety of telecommunications items.
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Featured Factsheet: College Tuition
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: College tuition and fixed fees
The CPI for college tuition includes tuition and fixed fees for undergraduate and post-graduate studies at 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, major universities, and professional schools.
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Featured Factsheet: Elementary and High School Tuition
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Elementary and high school tuition and fixed fees
The CPI for elementary and high school tuition includes tuition and fixed fees for studies at elementary schools and high schools (grades K-12) where tuition or fixed fees or both are charged.
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Featured Factsheet: Used Cars and Trucks
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Used Cars and Trucks
The CPI for used cars and trucks is comprised of used cars and trucks from 2 through 7 years of age.
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Featured Factsheet: Rent and Owners' Equivalent Rent
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Rent and Owners' Equivalent Rent
Two CPI indexes, owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence (OER) and rent of primary residence (Rent), measure the change in the shelter cost consumers receive from their primary residences.
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Featured Factsheet: Hotels and Motels
Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Hotels and Motels
The CPI for other lodging away from home includes short-term accommodations at hotels, motels, resorts, hostels, vacation rentals, and similar establishments.
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| Title | Factsheet Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Airline fares | Measuring price change | The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for airline fares includes all regularly scheduled domestic and international commercial airline trips on certified carriers departing from each city in the CPI sample. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Average prices | Measuring price change | With the release of the CPI each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also publishes average retail prices for select utility, automotive fuel, and food items. Although average prices are calculated from the price observations collected for the CPI, they serve a different purpose. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Personal computers | Measuring price change | The CPI for computers, peripherals, and smart home assistant devices includes all types of personal computers such as tablets, desktop computers, notebook computers, computer hardware, and peripheral equipment. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Household energy | Measuring price change | The CPI for household energy is a component of the fuels and utilities index, which is in the housing major group of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The household energy index measures the price movement of residential energy items used for heating, cooling, lighting, cooking, and other appliances and household equipment. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Leased cars and trucks | Measuring price change | The CPI for leased cars and trucks covers leases on all classes of new consumer vehicles. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Medical care | Measuring price change | The medical care index is one of eight major groups in the CPI and is divided into two main components: medical care services and medical care commodities, each containing several item categories. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Motor fuel | Measuring price change | The CPI motor fuel series is composed of indexes for gasoline (all types) and other motor fuels. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Motor vehicle insurance | Measuring price change | The CPI for motor vehicle insurance covers physical damage, liability, and miscellaneous insurance coverage for private passenger vehicles. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| New vehicles | Measuring price change | The CPI new vehicles series is composed of indexes for new cars and new trucks. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Telecommunications services | Measuring price change | The CPI defines telecommunications services as those services associated with wireless and landline telephone communications, internet access, and television services. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Telephone hardware | Measuring price change | The CPI for telephone hardware, calculators, and other consumer information items reflects price changes for a wide variety of telecommunications items. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| College tuition | Measuring price change | The CPI for college tuition includes tuition and fixed fees for undergraduate and post-graduate studies at 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, major universities, and professional schools. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Elementary and high school tuition | Measuring price change | The CPI for elementary and high school tuition includes tuition and fixed fees for studies at elementary schools and high schools (grades K-12) where tuition or fixed fees or both are charged. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Used cars and trucks | Measuring price change | The CPI for used cars and trucks is comprised of used cars and trucks from 2 through 7 years of age. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| How to use the consumer price index for escalation | Using CPI data | Escalation agreements often use the CPI—the most widely used measure of price change—to adjust payments for changes in prices. The most frequently used escalation applications are in private sector collective bargaining agreements, rental contracts, insurance policies with automatic inflation protection, and alimony and child support payments. See the factsheet for additional information and general guidelines to consider when developing an escalation agreement using the CPI. |
| Rent and owners' equivalent rent | Measuring price change | Two CPI indexes, owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence (OER) and rent of primary residence (Rent), measure the change in the shelter cost consumers receive from their primary residences. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Common misconceptions about the Consumer Price Index | Other | A number of misconceptions regarding the CPI are addressed in a summary factsheet. |
| Why the published averages don’t always match an individual’s inflation experience | Using CPI data | Because the CPI is a statistical average, it may not reflect your experience or that of specific families or individuals, particularly those whose expenditure patterns differ substantially from the "average" urban consumer. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Rebasing | Using CPI data | How to rebase CPI series to use a different base period. |
| R-CPI-U-NV | Other | The BLS produced a research new vehicle index (R-CPI-U-NV) using a transactions dataset purchased from J.D. Power as part of our methodological improvements for the CPI. This methodology was subsequently adopted for use in the official CPI. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Hotels and motels | Measuring price change | The CPI for other lodging away from home includes short-term accommodations at hotels, motels, resorts, hostels, vacation rentals, and similar establishments. See the factsheet for additional information. |
| Approximating missing data | Using CPI data | How to approximate missing datapoints in CPI series. |
| Calculating percent changes | Using CPI data | How to calculate the percent change and annual average percent change in CPI series. |
| Constructing special CPI series | Using CPI data | How to construct new special aggregate CPI series from public data. |
| Purchasing power and constant dollars | Using CPI data | How to use CPI data to adjust other figures for changes in purchasing power, or to keep figures in constant dollars over time. |
| CPI series ID codes | Using CPI data | How to find the series ID code for a particular CPI series |
Last Modified Date: March 10, 2023