The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson was up 0.9 percent for the two months ending in April 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that all items less food and energy index advanced 1.0 percent, as the indexes for medical care and shelter rose. The food index and energy index also saw increases. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The Baltimore area all items CPI-U advanced 3.0 percent for the 12 months ending in April. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.6 percent, and the food index increased 3.4 percent. The energy index was down 3.6 percent over the same period.

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, April 2022–April 2025

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Feb 2025	3.2	3.3
Apr 2025	3.0	3.6

The food index increased 0.6 percent from February to April. The index for food away from home advanced 2.5 percent. In comparison, the food at home index declined 0.6 percent, with lower prices in 4 of the 6 major grocery categories. Within food at home, prices for cereals and bakery products decreased 3.1 percent, and other food at home was down 1.0 percent. Whereas nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials recorded higher prices at 3.0 percent.

The food index rose 3.4 percent over the year. Prices for the food away from home index increased 5.3 percent and the food at home index advanced 2.3 percent. Three of the six major food sub-indexes were up over the year, as seen in meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+9.0 percent); and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+9.6 percent).

The energy index advanced 0.5 percent over the two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices increased 2.3 percent.

The energy index decreased 3.6 percent from April 2024 to April 2025, after a 1.7-percent rise in February. Over the year, the gasoline index decreased 13.6 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.0 percent from February to April. The medical care index rose 7.1 percent, the largest increase since the 7.6-percent rise in August 2019. The index for shelter was up 0.5 percent over the bi-monthly period, as the index for owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence rose 1.0 percent. The new and used motor vehicles index advanced 1.0 percent, as prices for new vehicles rose 0.5 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.6 percent over the year. The shelter index (+4.2 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, due in part to the increase in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+4.4 percent) index. Prices for medical care were up 8.6 percent— due to higher prices for medical care services, while recreation prices increased 6.5 percent. In contrast, the apparel index decreased, down 6.4 percent for the same period.

The Consumer Price Index for June 2025 for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 15, 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 area 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.

Percent changes for all-items data previously found in Table A of this release can be accessed in Chart 1 for this release and its attendant data table. A full all-items data series history for the original index value and for 1-month, 2-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month percent changes can be accessed via BLS data query tools. A direct link to the all-items series is provided in Table 1 of this release under historical data.

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. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, CPI-U by expenditure category for April 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025	Apr. 2025	Apr. 2024	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025
All items		321.541	-	324.513	3.0	0.9	-
All items (1967=100)		961.702	-	970.591	-	-	-
Food and beverages		343.028	-	344.783	3.1	0.5	-
Food		343.981	-	345.905	3.4	0.6	-
Food at home		303.673	301.712	301.911	2.3	-0.6	0.1
Cereals and bakery products		373.399	367.337	361.934	1.6	-3.1	-1.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		334.779	333.696	332.253	9.0	-0.8	-0.4
Dairy and related products		266.218	265.497	270.281	-0.7	1.5	1.8
Fruits and vegetables		323.596	326.419	318.799	-2.8	-1.5	-2.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		236.316	237.796	243.423	9.6	3.0	2.4
Other food at home		272.790	267.350	270.010	-2.0	-1.0	1.0
Food away from home		399.703	-	409.547	5.3	2.5	-
Alcoholic beverages		327.212	-	327.036	-0.1	-0.1	-
Housing		326.506	-	328.581	4.2	0.6	-
Shelter		384.148	386.253	386.182	4.2	0.5	0.0
Rent of primary residence		444.057	445.358	444.577	3.9	0.1	-0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		402.608	406.370	406.671	4.4	1.0	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		402.608	406.370	406.671	4.4	1.0	0.1
Household furnishings and operations		133.701	-	135.963	0.4	1.7	-
Apparel		122.435	-	122.352	-6.4	-0.1	-
Transportation		284.504	-	286.717	-0.7	0.8	-
Private transportation		291.231	-	293.046	-0.4	0.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		135.299	-	136.612	0.7	1.0	-
New vehicles(1)		277.917	-	279.225	0.9	0.5	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		321.975	-	323.345	1.7	0.4	-
Motor fuel		272.362	263.793	278.501	-13.5	2.3	5.6
Gasoline (all types)		266.051	257.672	272.086	-13.6	2.3	5.6
Unleaded regular(4)		267.860	258.683	274.095	-14.0	2.3	6.0
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		293.975	288.133	299.446	-11.4	1.9	3.9
Unleaded premium(4)		282.706	278.383	288.198	-10.7	1.9	3.5
Medical care		513.385	-	549.828	8.6	7.1	-
Recreation(3)		154.925	-	155.286	6.5	0.2	-
Education and communication(3)		163.078	-	161.797	-1.3	-0.8	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,432.433	-	1,432.433	3.5	0.0	-
Other goods and services		569.646	-	566.560	3.7	-0.5	-
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.
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

Table 2. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, CPI-U by special aggregate index for April 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025	Apr. 2025	Apr. 2024	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025
All items		321.541	-	324.513	3.0	0.9	-
Food		343.981	-	345.905	3.4	0.6	-
Energy		299.502	290.223	300.971	-3.6	0.5	3.7
All items less food and energy		322.740	-	325.989	3.6	1.0	-
All items less energy		325.455	-	328.554	3.6	1.0	-
All items less medical care		311.989	-	313.409	2.6	0.5	-
All items less shelter		298.333	-	301.766	2.4	1.2	-
Commodities		230.862	-	231.353	-1.1	0.2	-
Commodities less food		186.056	-	186.098	-3.7	0.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		181.668	-	181.717	-3.9	0.0	-
Durables		130.393	-	130.452	-2.1	0.0	-
Nondurables		281.021	-	281.850	-0.5	0.3	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		228.270	-	228.281	-4.8	0.0	-
Nondurables less food		233.546	-	233.544	-4.5	0.0	-
Services		410.468	-	415.672	5.4	1.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		455.305	-	464.935	6.9	2.1	-
Services less medical care services		400.640	-	402.910	5.0	0.6	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base.
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.