The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria was up 0.5 percent for the two months ending in January 2025, 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 increased 0.5 percent and energy prices rose 1.9 percent. The food index decreased 0.1 percent for the same period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The Washington area all items CPI-U advanced 2.7 percent for the 12 months ending in January. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.8 percent, the food index increased 1.8 percent, and the energy index was up 3.6 percent over the same period.

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, January 2022–January 2025

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jan 2022	6.0	4.8
Mar 2022	7.3	6.0
May 2022	7.5	5.7
Jul 2022	7.5	5.6
Sep 2022	6.5	5.6
Nov 2022	5.6	4.9
Jan 2023	4.4	3.6
Mar 2023	3.7	4.0
May 2023	3.1	3.9
Jul 2023	1.8	2.9
Sep 2023	3.3	3.6
Nov 2023	2.8	3.3
Jan 2024	3.6	4.6
Mar 2024	3.4	3.5
May 2024	3.3	3.5
Jul 2024	3.7	3.8
Sep 2024	2.6	3.1
Nov 2024	2.7	3.0
Jan 2025	2.7	2.8

The food index was down 0.1 percent for the two months ending in January. The index for food at home decreased 0.3 percent, with lower prices in most of the categories. The fruits and vegetables group prices decreased 3.6 percent, the largest decrease since November 2020 (-5.6 percent). Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs was one category with higher prices at 4.5 percent, the largest increase since September 2021 (+4.7 percent). The food away from home index, which includes restaurants, cafeteria, and vending purchases, rose 0.1 percent.

The food index advanced 1.8 percent over the year. The food away from home index increased 2.5 percent, and the food at home index rose 1.2 percent. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the year, whereas fruits and vegetables recorded its largest decline since the index began in November 2018, at 6.9 percent.

The energy index rose 1.9 percent over the two-month pricing period. The gasoline index increased 1.4 percent, the first increase since May 2024.

The energy index increased 3.6 percent from January 2024 to January 2025. Over the year, the gasoline index rose 1.0 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.5 percent during the two-month period. The index for shelter increased, up 1.2 percent over the bi-monthly period. The index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences rose 0.8 percent, and the index for rent of primary residence increased 0.9 percent. In contrast, indexes for apparel (-3.0 percent), and public transportation declined.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.8 percent over the year. The shelter index (+4.0 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, due in part to the increase in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (+3.7 percent). The rent of primary residence index rose 3.9 percent. Other index increases included recreation (+7.9 percent), education and communication (+1.6 percent), and new and used motor vehicles at 1.0 percent — the first over-the-year increase since a 1.7-percent rise in January 2024.

The March 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, April 10, 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 Washington 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, Core Based Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; the counties of Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the county of Jefferson in West Virginia.

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. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, CPI-U by expenditure category for January 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Nov. 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Jan. 2024	Nov. 2024	Dec. 2024
All items		316.745	-	318.175	2.7	0.5	-
All items (1967=100)		935.118	-	939.340	-	-	-
Food and beverages		312.374	-	312.141	2.0	-0.1	-
Food		321.368	-	321.023	1.8	-0.1	-
Food at home		297.460	297.984	296.666	1.2	-0.3	-0.4
Cereals and bakery products		414.039	415.522	421.069	10.0	1.7	1.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		314.450	318.836	328.729	6.2	4.5	3.1
Dairy and related products		292.212	291.190	291.136	-0.3	-0.4	0.0
Fruits and vegetables		296.512	302.537	285.837	-6.9	-3.6	-5.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		266.603	263.535	265.239	1.2	-0.5	0.6
Other food at home		251.646	248.470	246.373	0.0	-2.1	-0.8
Food away from home		354.752	-	354.984	2.5	0.1	-
Alcoholic beverages		227.869	-	228.841	4.0	0.4	-
Housing		331.793	-	335.690	3.6	1.2	-
Shelter		397.041	399.621	401.862	4.0	1.2	0.6
Rent of primary residence		428.019	429.409	431.781	3.9	0.9	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		410.622	412.167	413.931	3.7	0.8	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		410.622	412.167	413.931	3.7	0.8	0.4
Household furnishings and operations		130.229	-	130.873	-0.9	0.5	-
Apparel		157.518	-	152.865	-3.2	-3.0	-
Transportation		272.378	-	270.710	2.0	-0.6	-
Private transportation		282.265	-	283.871	2.3	0.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		126.374	-	127.260	1.0	0.7	-
New vehicles(1)		227.127	-	227.661	-0.6	0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		395.784	-	398.925	2.4	0.8	-
Motor fuel		294.556	286.563	298.685	0.9	1.4	4.2
Gasoline (all types)		290.341	282.446	294.420	1.0	1.4	4.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		281.730	273.829	286.158	1.0	1.6	4.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		308.133	300.937	310.001	0.7	0.6	3.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		324.809	317.578	326.291	0.6	0.5	2.7
Medical care		532.563	-	533.808	-0.2	0.2	-
Recreation(3)		136.765	-	139.163	7.9	1.8	-
Education and communication(3)		168.831	-	169.067	1.6	0.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,707.100	-	1,712.541	2.6	0.3	-
Other goods and services		524.837	-	528.518	1.2	0.7	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1977=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. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, CPI-U by special aggregate index for January 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Nov. 2024	Dec. 2024	Jan. 2025	Jan. 2024	Nov. 2024	Dec. 2024
All items		316.745	-	318.175	2.7	0.5	-
Food		321.368	-	321.023	1.8	-0.1	-
Energy		265.173	260.235	270.217	3.6	1.9	3.8
All items less food and energy		326.758	-	328.373	2.8	0.5	-
All items less energy		324.848	-	326.180	2.6	0.4	-
All items less medical care		306.652	-	308.093	2.9	0.5	-
All items less shelter		283.429	-	283.462	1.8	0.0	-
Commodities		212.927	-	212.511	-0.1	-0.2	-
Commodities less food		167.721	-	167.311	-1.1	-0.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages		165.148	-	164.690	-1.4	-0.3	-
Durables		117.822	-	117.611	-1.3	-0.2	-
Nondurables		262.653	-	262.119	0.5	-0.2	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		215.468	-	214.651	-1.6	-0.4	-
Nondurables less food		216.074	-	215.419	-1.0	-0.3	-
Services		410.367	-	413.646	4.1	0.8	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		438.653	-	439.810	4.2	0.3	-
Services less medical care services		397.634	-	401.025	4.4	0.9	-
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.