The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area advanced 0.8 percent for the two months ending in March 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 increased 0.8 percent. Prices for food rose 0.7 percent while the energy index ticked down 0.1 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area all items CPI-U increased 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending in March. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.7 percent over the year. Food prices rose 2.5 percent while energy prices decreased 2.4 percent.

  

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Mar 2025	2.4	2.7

Food prices advanced 0.7 percent for the two months ending in March.  Prices for food away from home increased 1.1 percent while prices for food at home rose 0.4 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, 4 of 6 grocery indexes increased, including the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index (+2.6 percent) and the fruits and vegetables index (+2.5 percent).

Food prices rose 2.5 percent over the year, as prices for food away from home advanced 3.2 percent. The food at home index increased 1.9 percent, as half of the sub-indexes rose. Prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs were up 9.4 percent.

The energy index declined 0.1 percent over the two-month pricing period. The gasoline index decreased 2.9 percent.

The energy index decreased 2.4 percent from March 2024 to March 2025. Over the same period, the gasoline index declined 11.4 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.8 percent during the two-month period. The index for shelter increased, up 0.8 percent over the bi-monthly period. Within shelter, the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences rose 0.4 percent. Other index increases included apparel (+7.4 percent) and education and communication (+1.3 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.7 percent over the year. The shelter index (+3.6 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, as the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (+3.5 percent) and rent of primary residence (+3.7 percent) rose. Other index increases included recreation (+7.7 percent) and education and communication (+3.1 percent).

The May 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 11, 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 March 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025	Mar. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025
All items		318.175	-	320.604	2.4	0.8	-
All items (1967=100)		939.340	-	946.511	-	-	-
Food and beverages		312.141	-	314.261	2.6	0.7	-
Food		321.023	-	323.351	2.5	0.7	-
Food at home		296.666	296.942	297.714	1.9	0.4	0.3
Cereals and bakery products		421.069	419.641	423.337	7.9	0.5	0.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		328.729	335.027	337.185	9.4	2.6	0.6
Dairy and related products		291.136	288.427	296.100	4.8	1.7	2.7
Fruits and vegetables		285.837	292.480	292.854	-3.1	2.5	0.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		265.239	265.180	264.441	-0.2	-0.3	-0.3
Other food at home		246.373	241.109	238.780	-2.9	-3.1	-1.0
Food away from home		354.984	-	359.019	3.2	1.1	-
Alcoholic beverages		228.841	-	228.984	4.2	0.1	-
Housing		335.690	-	338.529	3.3	0.8	-
Shelter		401.862	402.296	405.103	3.6	0.8	0.7
Rent of primary residence		431.781	433.596	434.586	3.7	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		413.931	415.478	415.689	3.5	0.4	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		413.931	415.478	415.689	3.5	0.4	0.1
Household furnishings and operations		130.873	-	131.519	-1.2	0.5	-
Apparel		152.865	-	164.135	-0.6	7.4	-
Transportation		270.710	-	268.864	-1.1	-0.7	-
Private transportation		283.871	-	282.907	0.1	-0.3	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		127.260	-	127.345	0.3	0.1	-
New vehicles(1)		227.661	-	227.831	-0.3	0.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		398.925	-	399.004	1.1	0.0	-
Motor fuel		298.685	297.697	290.267	-11.4	-2.8	-2.5
Gasoline (all types)		294.420	293.331	285.990	-11.4	-2.9	-2.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		286.158	284.945	277.522	-12.0	-3.0	-2.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		310.001	309.317	302.960	-9.0	-2.3	-2.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		326.291	326.132	319.911	-8.3	-2.0	-1.9
Medical care		533.808	-	532.938	0.2	-0.2	-
Recreation(3)		139.163	-	139.283	7.7	0.1	-
Education and communication(3)		169.067	-	171.281	3.1	1.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,712.541	-	1,740.485	3.1	1.6	-
Other goods and services		528.518	-	534.419	1.1	1.1	-
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 March 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025	Mar. 2025	Mar. 2024	Jan. 2025	Feb. 2025
All items		318.175	-	320.604	2.4	0.8	-
Food		321.023	-	323.351	2.5	0.7	-
Energy		270.217	271.088	270.040	-2.4	-0.1	-0.4
All items less food and energy		328.373	-	331.044	2.7	0.8	-
All items less energy		326.180	-	328.792	2.7	0.8	-
All items less medical care		308.093	-	310.693	2.6	0.8	-
All items less shelter		283.462	-	285.562	1.7	0.7	-
Commodities		212.511	-	214.518	0.1	0.9	-
Commodities less food		167.311	-	169.122	-1.3	1.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		164.690	-	166.554	-1.6	1.1	-
Durables		117.611	-	117.833	-0.6	0.2	-
Nondurables		262.119	-	265.395	0.4	1.2	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		214.651	-	219.038	-2.6	2.0	-
Nondurables less food		215.419	-	219.448	-1.9	1.9	-
Services		413.646	-	416.399	3.6	0.7	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		439.810	-	442.489	3.7	0.6	-
Services less medical care services		401.025	-	404.081	4.0	0.8	-
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.