Prices in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.4 percent for the 2 months ending in December 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted the decline was the first of the year and was influenced by price decreases in the energy and the all items less food and energy indexes. The food index was up 0.1 percent in the same period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.) (See table A.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 3.4 percent, mostly due to a 4.0-percent rise in the all items less food and energy index. The food index was up 2.9 percent, and the energy index decreased 2.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, December 2021–December 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Dec 2021	8.0	6.5
Feb 2022	9.3	7.6
Apr 2022	9.1	7.1
Jun 2022	10.6	7.9
Aug 2022	10.2	8.8
Oct 2022	8.4	7.0
Dec 2022	6.3	5.6
Feb 2023	6.1	5.8
Apr 2023	5.3	5.4
Jun 2023	2.8	4.2
Aug 2023	3.1	3.1
Oct 2023	2.2	2.4
Dec 2023	2.1	2.0
Feb 2024	2.6	2.7
Apr 2024	2.9	2.8
Jun 2024	3.0	2.9
Aug 2024	3.0	3.6
Oct 2024	3.4	3.9
Dec 2024	3.4	4.0

Food prices increased 0.1 percent for the 2 months ending in December 2024, as did prices for food away from home. The food at home index was unchanged with the grocery categories being a mix of increases and decreases. Prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs were up 0.9 percent, well below this year’s high of 3.7 percent seen in October. Offsetting the higher grocery prices, were lower prices for fruits and vegetables (-3.2 percent), and cereals and bakery products (-2.6 percent).

Over the year, the food index rose 2.9 percent as prices for food away from home were up 3.8 percent. The food at home index increased 2.2 percent due to higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (7.4 percent); nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (4.3 percent); and cereals and bakery products (3.2 percent). In the same period, prices for fruits and vegetables declined 3.0 percent, and dairy and related products decreased 2.2 percent.

In the two months ending in December, the energy index decreased 3.4 percent. The energy index decline was mainly due to falling prices for gasoline, down 8.2 percent. Prices for electricity were unchanged, and prices for utility (piped) gas service increased 9.2 percent for the same period.

From December 2023 to December 2024 the energy index declined 2.6 percent due largely to the gasoline index decreasing 7.9 percent. Offsetting the energy index decline were higher prices for electricity and natural gas service, up 1.8 percent and 20.1 percent, respectively.

The index for all items less food and energy was down 0.2 percent in the two months ending in December 2024. Lower prices for apparel (-7.9 percent), education and communication (-1.3 percent), and shelter (-0.3 percent) — due to lower prices for lodging away from home — led the overall index decline. Tempering the decreases were price increases in recreation and household furnishings and operations, up 1.5 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

Over the year, the all items less food and energy index advanced 4.0 percent, led by a 3.7-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, a 3.6-percent rise in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index, a 4.4-percent rise in the rent of primary residence index, and higher prices for lodging away from home contributed to the shelter index increase. Also contributing to the increase was the recreation index (5.4 percent) and the medical care index (3.1 percent) — due to higher prices for medical care services). Other goods and services rose 8.1 percent in the same period. Partially tempering the all items less food and energy index rise was the apparel index (-2.5 percent), and the new and used motor vehicles index, down 0.9 percent. Within the new and used motor vehicle index, prices for used cars and trucks fell 2.1 percent, continuing a two-year trend of price decreases that started in December 2022, and new vehicle prices decreased 0.2 percent. The education and communication index declined 0.4 percent, the first over-the-year decrease since December 2022 (-0.2 percent), and the largest 12-month decline since September 2011 (-1.0 percent).

The February 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on March 12, 2025.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Consumer Price Index for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is published bi-monthly. The set of components and sub-aggregates published for regional and metropolitan indexes is more limited than at the U.S. city average level; these indexes are byproducts of the national CPI program. Each local index has a much smaller sample size than the national or regional indexes and is, therefore, subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error. As a result, local-area indexes are more volatile than the national or regional indexes. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. 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 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s counties, as well as Baltimore City, in Maryland.

Refer to the national CPI news release technical note or the Handbook of Methods for more information.

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, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from
	Historical data	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024	Dec. 2024	Dec. 2023	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
All items		317.866		316.753	3.4	-0.4
Food and beverages		338.573		338.691	2.8	0.0
Food		338.961		339.221	2.9	0.1
Food at home		299.064	296.837	299.153	2.2	0.0	0.8
Cereals and bakery products		376.284	357.975	366.460	3.2	-2.6	2.4
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		314.466	309.121	317.336	7.4	0.9	2.7
Dairy and related products		272.664	276.076	276.667	-2.2	1.5	0.2
Fruits and vegetables		327.936	315.968	317.570	-3.0	-3.2	0.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		225.324	231.647	231.514	4.3	2.7	-0.1
Other food at home		272.010	277.147	274.787	1.3	1.0	-0.9
Food away from home		394.339		394.874	3.8	0.1
Alcoholic beverages		329.302		327.684	1.3	-0.5
Housing(1)		320.647		320.891	3.4	0.1
Shelter		378.820	377.511	377.815	3.7	-0.3	0.1
Rent of primary residence		441.471	440.578	441.779	4.4	0.1	0.3
Owners' equivalent rent of residences(2)		396.920	397.166	398.624	3.6	0.4	0.4
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence(2)		396.920	397.166	398.624	3.6	0.4	0.4
Fuels and utilities		317.156		319.890	2.8	0.9
Household energy		280.854	280.585	283.714	2.8	1.0	1.1
Energy services		303.457	303.216	305.504	3.1	0.7	0.8
Electricity		285.496	284.140	285.395	1.8	0.0	0.4
Utility (piped) gas service		243.474	254.835	265.860	20.1	9.2	4.3
Household furnishings and operations		133.332		136.304	1.0	2.2
Apparel		124.408		114.563	-2.5	-7.9
Transportation		283.777		280.980	4.7	-1.0
Private transportation		289.479		287.706	4.7	-0.6
New and used motor vehicles(3)		134.288		135.088	-0.9	0.6
New vehicles(1)		276.394		276.392	-0.2	0.0
Used cars and trucks(1)		317.462		320.234	-2.1	0.9
Motor fuel		279.188	271.549	256.490	-8.1	-8.1	-5.5
Gasoline (all types)		273.119	265.387	250.594	-7.9	-8.2	-5.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		274.989	266.668	251.460	-8.3	-8.6	-5.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		301.694	296.260	280.972	-5.8	-6.9	-5.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		290.138	285.165	271.443	-5.3	-6.4	-4.8
Medical care		515.496		511.383	3.1	-0.8
Recreation		150.757		153.083	5.4	1.5
Education and communication(3)		163.446		161.240	-0.4	-1.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,431.578		1,432.433	4.7	0.1
Other goods and services		560.947		562.915	8.1	0.4
Commodity and service group
Commodities		229.245		226.587	-0.2	-1.2
Commodities less food and beverages		181.268		177.641	-2.2	-2.0
Nondurables less food and beverages		226.133		218.465	-2.1	-3.4
Durables		130.366		129.847	-2.2	-0.4
Services		404.633		405.075	5.5	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter		295.333		294.164	3.2	-0.4
All items less medical care		308.040		307.083	3.4	-0.3
Commodities less food		185.712		182.135	-2.0	-1.9
Nondurables		277.841		273.828	0.7	-1.4
Nondurables less food		231.763		224.497	-1.8	-3.1
Services less rent of shelter(2)		448.626		451.146	7.7	0.6
Services less medical care services		393.430		394.601	5.6	0.3
Energy(1)		290.016	286.015	280.069	-2.6	-3.4	-2.1
All items less energy		322.086		321.652	3.8	-0.1
All items less food and energy		319.612		319.064	4.0	-0.2
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a March 1978=100 base. (2) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.