The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area advanced 0.3 percent for the two months ending in May 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 0.2 percent. The energy index rose 1.6 percent and prices for food advanced 0.5 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 1.9 percent for the 12 months ending in May. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.1 percent over the year. Food prices rose 2.6 percent while energy prices decreased 2.7 percent.

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
May 2025	1.9	2.1

Food prices advanced 0.5 percent for the two months ending in May.  Prices for food away from home increased 0.2 percent while prices for food at home rose 0.7 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, the other food at home index was up 5.1 percent, after a four bi-month period of declines.

Food prices rose 2.6 percent over the year, as prices for food away from home advanced 3.4 percent. The food at home index increased 1.9 percent, as most of the sub-indexes rose. Prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs were up 7.3 percent.

The energy index was up 1.6 percent over the two-month pricing period. The gasoline index increased 1.5 percent.

The energy index decreased, down 2.7 percent from May 2024 to May 2025. Over the same period, the gasoline index declined 13.4 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.2 percent during the two-month period. The indexes for recreation and for shelter increased, up 2.7 and 0.2 percent respectively, over the bi-monthly period. Within shelter, the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences rose 0.4 percent. Other index increases included new and used motor vehicles (+0.6 percent) and medical care (+0.3 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for apparel (-5.0 percent) and education and communication (-0.4 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.1 percent over the year. The shelter index (+3.3 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, as rent of primary residence (+3.7 percent) and the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (+3.3 percent) rose. Other index increases included recreation (+5.9 percent) and household furnishings and operations (+2.9 percent).

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

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Mar. 2025	Apr. 2025	May 2025	May 2024	Mar. 2025	Apr. 2025
All items		320.604	-	321.560	1.9	0.3	-
All items (1967=100)		946.511	-	949.334	-	-	-
Food and beverages		314.261	-	315.371	2.5	0.4	-
Food		323.351	-	324.837	2.6	0.5	-
Food at home		297.714	298.885	299.764	1.9	0.7	0.3
Cereals and bakery products		423.337	423.406	409.416	0.6	-3.3	-3.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		337.185	332.418	335.221	7.3	-0.6	0.8
Dairy and related products		296.100	293.932	286.273	2.5	-3.3	-2.6
Fruits and vegetables		292.854	284.951	293.910	-0.4	0.4	3.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		264.441	272.510	269.570	0.7	1.9	-1.1
Other food at home		238.780	247.519	251.075	0.9	5.1	1.4
Food away from home		359.019	-	359.766	3.4	0.2	-
Alcoholic beverages		228.984	-	226.474	1.6	-1.1	-
Housing		338.529	-	339.439	3.5	0.3	-
Shelter		405.103	404.785	406.088	3.3	0.2	0.3
Rent of primary residence		434.586	435.218	437.091	3.7	0.6	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		415.689	415.729	417.485	3.3	0.4	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		415.689	415.729	417.485	3.3	0.4	0.4
Household furnishings and operations		131.519	-	131.275	2.9	-0.2	-
Apparel		164.135	-	155.946	-3.9	-5.0	-
Transportation		268.864	-	271.708	-2.7	1.1	-
Private transportation		282.907	-	284.747	-1.9	0.7	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		127.345	-	128.132	0.8	0.6	-
New vehicles(1)		227.831	-	228.502	0.2	0.3	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		399.004	-	403.250	2.2	1.1	-
Motor fuel		290.267	299.446	294.545	-13.4	1.5	-1.6
Gasoline (all types)		285.990	295.109	290.308	-13.4	1.5	-1.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		277.522	286.919	281.914	-13.9	1.6	-1.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		302.960	310.083	306.595	-11.3	1.2	-1.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		319.911	326.473	323.390	-10.6	1.1	-0.9
Medical care		532.938	-	534.633	0.1	0.3	-
Recreation(3)		139.283	-	143.030	5.9	2.7	-
Education and communication(3)		171.281	-	170.567	1.2	-0.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,740.485	-	1,740.550	3.1	0.0	-
Other goods and services		534.419	-	537.674	3.1	0.6	-
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 May 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Mar. 2025	Apr. 2025	May 2025	May 2024	Mar. 2025	Apr. 2025
All items		320.604	-	321.560	1.9	0.3	-
Food		323.351	-	324.837	2.6	0.5	-
Energy		270.040	274.139	274.317	-2.7	1.6	0.1
All items less food and energy		331.044	-	331.722	2.1	0.2	-
All items less energy		328.792	-	329.584	2.2	0.2	-
All items less medical care		310.693	-	311.614	2.0	0.3	-
All items less shelter		285.562	-	286.497	1.0	0.3	-
Commodities		214.518	-	214.289	-0.3	-0.1	-
Commodities less food		169.122	-	168.342	-2.0	-0.5	-
Commodities less food & beverages		166.554	-	165.836	-2.2	-0.4	-
Durables		117.833	-	117.460	-0.7	-0.3	-
Nondurables		265.395	-	265.335	-0.2	0.0	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		219.038	-	217.857	-3.7	-0.5	-
Nondurables less food		219.448	-	218.160	-3.2	-0.6	-
Services		416.399	-	418.556	3.1	0.5	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		442.489	-	446.685	2.9	0.9	-
Services less medical care services		404.081	-	406.487	3.3	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.