The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington was up 0.5 percent from June to August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the all items less food and energy index also rose 0.5 percent as shelter prices increased. The food index advanced 1.4 percent, and the energy index decreased 1.3 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The Philadelphia-area all items CPI-U advanced 3.3 percent for the 12 months ending in August. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent. This is the first time since February 2023, that the all items index 12-month percent change is higher than the all items less food and energy. The food index increased 2.6 percent, and the energy index was up 5.1 percent over the same period.

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, August 2022–August 2025

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Aug 2022	8.1	5.8
Oct 2022	7.8	5.8
Dec 2022	6.4	5.2
Feb 2023	6.9	6.3
Apr 2023	4.7	5.0
Jun 2023	3.1	4.6
Aug 2023	3.9	4.6
Oct 2023	3.5	4.4
Dec 2023	3.9	4.7
Feb 2024	3.4	4.2
Apr 2024	4.1	4.6
Jun 2024	3.6	4.0
Aug 2024	3.4	4.0
Oct 2024	3.4	4.0
Dec 2024	3.3	3.6
Feb 2025	3.1	3.1
Apr 2025	2.9	3.1
Jun 2025	3.3	3.3
Aug 2025	3.3	3.2

The food index was up 1.4 percent for the two months ending in August. The index for food at home increased 2.4 percent, with higher prices in all the major food categories. Within food at home, prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 4.1 percent, as did prices for fruits and vegetables. The food away from home index increased 0.3 percent.

The food index advanced 2.6 percent over the year as the food away from home index increased 3.2 percent. The food at home index rose 2.2 percent in the same period. Four of the six major food categories increased over the year, with the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index, up 8.7 percent.

The energy index decreased 1.3 percent over the two-month pricing period ending in August. Gasoline prices were unchanged.

The energy index advanced 5.1 percent from August 2024 to August 2025. Over the year, the gasoline index declined 6.3 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent from June to August. The index for shelter advanced 0.6 percent over the bi-monthly period, with the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences rising 0.4 percent. Further price increases included education and communication, up 1.6 percent, and household furnishings and operations, up 1.7 percent. Prices were lower for recreation (-1.5 percent) and medical care (-0.8 percent) in the same period.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent over the year. The shelter index, up 3.4 percent, was the main contributor to the increase, as both the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index and rent of primary residence advanced 3.9 percent. The household furnishings and operations index rose 8.4 percent and prices for education and communication increased 4.0 percent.

The October 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington-Area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, November 13, 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 the Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County 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. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, CPI-U by expenditure category for August 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Jun. 2025	Jul. 2025	Aug. 2025	Aug. 2024	Jun. 2025	Jul. 2025
All items		324.636	-	326.334	3.3	0.5	-
All items (1967=100)		937.855	-	942.761	-	-	-
Food and beverages		307.457	-	311.529	2.6	1.3	-
Food		310.186	-	314.549	2.6	1.4	-
Food at home		309.951	309.762	317.306	2.2	2.4	2.4
Cereals and bakery products		406.540	410.154	413.698	-1.7	1.8	0.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		364.407	362.264	379.460	8.7	4.1	4.7
Dairy and related products		241.493	238.557	243.718	0.7	0.9	2.2
Fruits and vegetables		293.641	293.670	305.801	2.2	4.1	4.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		220.363	222.111	225.346	2.5	2.3	1.5
Other food at home		291.990	291.658	294.313	-0.4	0.8	0.9
Food away from home		301.211	-	302.029	3.2	0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		265.744	-	265.897	3.2	0.1	-
Housing		353.249	-	355.000	4.5	0.5	-
Shelter		433.264	435.546	436.028	3.4	0.6	0.1
Rent of primary residence		409.271	409.635	411.203	3.9	0.5	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		446.848	447.650	448.739	3.9	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		446.848	447.650	448.739	3.9	0.4	0.2
Household furnishings and operations		155.457	-	158.148	8.4	1.7	-
Apparel		111.667	-	115.989	2.7	3.9	-
Transportation		280.558	-	281.859	2.2	0.5	-
Private transportation		292.228	-	293.253	1.0	0.4	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		135.261	-	135.549	1.3	0.2	-
New vehicles(1)		239.640	-	240.264	1.0	0.3	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		353.020	-	355.523	5.3	0.7	-
Motor fuel		292.055	292.129	292.044	-6.2	0.0	0.0
Gasoline (all types)		288.361	288.372	288.272	-6.3	0.0	0.0
Unleaded regular(4)		282.660	282.514	282.287	-6.5	-0.1	-0.1
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		304.608	305.268	305.864	-5.7	0.4	0.2
Unleaded premium(4)		304.905	305.761	306.343	-5.0	0.5	0.2
Medical care		611.129	-	606.516	1.1	-0.8	-
Recreation(3)		140.064	-	137.902	0.0	-1.5	-
Education and communication(3)		141.081	-	143.353	4.0	1.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,206.316	-	1,237.256	6.8	2.6	-
Other goods and services		718.156	-	721.335	2.4	0.4	-
Footnotes (1) Index is on a December 1977=100 base. (2) Index is on a December 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. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, CPI-U by special aggregate index for August 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Jun. 2025	Jul. 2025	Aug. 2025	Aug. 2024	Jun. 2025	Jul. 2025
All items		324.636	-	326.334	3.3	0.5	-
Food		310.186	-	314.549	2.6	1.4	-
Energy		278.729	278.698	275.074	5.1	-1.3	-1.3
All items less food and energy		340.040	-	341.808	3.2	0.5	-
All items less energy		332.856	-	334.983	3.1	0.6	-
All items less medical care		312.410	-	314.362	3.4	0.6	-
All items less shelter		287.294	-	288.566	3.2	0.4	-
Commodities		223.289	-	225.353	1.0	0.9	-
Commodities less food		181.897	-	182.923	-0.3	0.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages		178.392	-	179.445	-0.5	0.6	-
Durables		128.312	-	128.799	0.5	0.4	-
Nondurables		265.448	-	268.449	1.1	1.1	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		221.549	-	223.329	-1.1	0.8	-
Nondurables less food		224.449	-	226.096	-0.8	0.7	-
Services		424.232	-	425.737	4.3	0.4	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		423.483	-	423.296	5.6	0.0	-
Services less medical care services		408.907	-	410.930	4.5	0.5	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.