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Consumer Price Index
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Imputation
Imputation is a procedure for handling missing information by using similar data to produce a statistical estimate for that value. BLS uses several different imputation methods to calculate the CPI. Tables 1 and 2 show the use of these different imputation methods for the CPI Commodities and Services (C&S) survey and Housing survey, respectively. They do not represent an overall imputation rate for each survey.
For the C&S survey, when using home cell imputation, BLS uses the average change in price observed for sampled products or services in the same category and same location as the missing product’s price. For example, if the price of a loaf of 100% whole wheat bread is unavailable from one sampled store in the Washington, DC, area, BLS imputes the price based on observed price changes for bread (all types) within the Washington, DC, area. If all prices are unavailable in the home cell, BLS uses different cell imputation, which maintains the item category but expands geography. For example, in the case of bread, if all prices are missing in the Washington, DC, area, they would be imputed first based on observed price changes for bread in the South Atlantic region. If this region has no collected bread data, then observed price changes for bread in a different region is chosen. If all prices for a category are unavailable across all regions, then carry-forward imputation is chosen. This technique sets the current month price of a missing product or service to its previous month price.
For the Housing Survey, if a housing unit in the sample is observed as recently vacant, rent is imputed by the average change in rent for units within the same location with a recent change in occupancy. Long-term vacant units are imputed using the average rent change of non-vacant units occupied for at least 6 months. For a non-interview or nonresponse case, rent is imputed by the average change in rent observed for housing units within the same nominal rent class (low, medium, or high rent) within the same location. If this source pool is insufficient, the pool is expanded across geography similar to the method used in the C&S survey. For more detailed description of CPI imputation processes see the CPI imputation section of the BLS Handbook of Methods. For more information on data collection outcomes, see the CPI Response Rate tables.
BLS began calculating and publishing the imputation data series in 2019. Imputation data from January 2019 to present (XLSX).
Last Modified Date: July 30, 2025