The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria was down 0.3 percent from September to November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the all items less food and energy index also decreased 0.3 percent, and the food index declined 0.7 percent. While prices increased for the energy index. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

BLS did not collect survey data for October 2025 due to a lapse in appropriations. BLS is unable to retroactively collect these data. For a few indexes, BLS uses nonsurvey data sources instead of survey data to make the index calculations. BLS was able to retroactively acquire most of the nonsurvey data for October.

The Washington area all items CPI-U advanced 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending in November. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.3 percent. Food prices increased 2.2 percent and energy prices were up 4.6 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, November 2022–November 2025

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jul 2025	2.0	2.3
Sep 2025	2.5	2.6
Nov 2025	2.4	2.3

The food index declined 0.7 percent for the two months ending in November. Prices for food away from home were down 0.3 percent while prices for food at home fell 1.1 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, lower prices in the food sub-indexes included fruits and vegetables down 5.2 percent, the largest decrease since November 2020.

The food index rose 2.2 percent over the year, as the food away from home index increased 2.8 percent. The food at home index was up 1.7 percent. Five of the six major food sub-indexes advanced over the year, with meats, poultry, fish, and eggs up 8.4 percent.

The energy index increased 1.4 percent over the two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices declined 2.3 percent.

The energy index advanced 4.6 percent from November 2024 to November 2025. Over the year, the gasoline index declined 2.4 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.3 percent from September to November. Among the index’s components, prices were lower for recreation (-8.1 percent) and apparel (-6.0 percent). In contrast, indexes for other goods and services (5.3 percent) and education and communication (1.1 percent) rose.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.3 percent over the year, as the shelter index (3.5 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase. Within shelter, the index for the owners’ equivalent rent of residences rose 3.5 percent and rent of primary residence was up 3.4 percent. Other index increases included other goods and services (9.7 percent) and household furnishings and operations (3.7 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for recreation (-5.1 percent).

The Consumer Price Index for January 2026 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 11, 2026.

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.

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 November 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Sep. 2025	Oct. 2025	Nov. 2025	Nov. 2024	Sep. 2025	Oct. 2025
All items		325.312	-	324.286	2.4	-0.3	-
All items (1967=100)		960.412	-	957.381	-	-	-
Food and beverages		321.058	-	319.237	2.2	-0.6	-
Food		330.909	-	328.506	2.2	-0.7	-
Food at home		306.047	(1)-	302.604	1.7	-1.1	-
Cereals and bakery products		434.172	(1)-	426.863	3.1	-1.7	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		338.921	(1)-	340.986	8.4	0.6	-
Dairy and related products		297.863	(1)-	295.557	1.1	-0.8	-
Fruits and vegetables		303.495	(1)-	287.650	-3.0	-5.2	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(2)		279.150	(1)-	267.094	0.2	-4.3	-
Other food at home		248.172	(1)-	252.838	0.5	1.9	-
Food away from home		365.590	-	364.553	2.8	-0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		228.487	-	232.269	1.9	1.7	-
Housing		343.716	-	344.725	3.9	0.3	-
Shelter		410.457	(1)-	411.028	3.5	0.1	-
Rent of primary residence		440.915	(1)-	442.768	3.4	0.4	-
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(3)		423.731	(1)-	424.803	3.5	0.3	-
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(3)		423.731	(1)-	424.803	3.5	0.3	-
Household furnishings and operations		135.865	-	135.019	3.7	-0.6	-
Apparel		167.874	-	157.869	0.2	-6.0	-
Transportation		275.352	-	277.089	1.7	0.6	-
Private transportation		285.945	-	284.128	0.7	-0.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		128.276	-	127.630	1.0	-0.5	-
New vehicles(2)		228.174	-	227.738	0.3	-0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(2)		409.628	-	409.744	3.5	0.0	-
Motor fuel		294.158	(1)-	287.607	-2.4	-2.2	-
Gasoline (all types)		289.928	283.574	283.393	-2.4	-2.3	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(5)		281.296	274.788	274.588	-2.5	-2.4	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(5)(6)		307.668	302.854	302.448	-1.8	-1.7	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(5)		324.592	319.748	319.752	-1.6	-1.5	0.0
Medical care		532.931	-	533.981	0.3	0.2	-
Recreation(4)		141.243	-	129.841	-5.1	-8.1	-
Education and communication(4)		169.007	-	170.862	1.2	1.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(2)		1,730.788	-	1,731.497	1.4	0.0	-
Other goods and services		546.688	-	575.814	9.7	5.3	-
Footnotes (1) Data unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations (2) Indexes on a November 1977=100 base. (3) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base. (4) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (5) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (6) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. NOTE: The October 2025 data values are not available due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations.

Table 2. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, CPI-U by special aggregate index for November 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Sep. 2025	Oct. 2025	Nov. 2025	Nov. 2024	Sep. 2025	Oct. 2025
All items		325.312	-	324.286	2.4	-0.3	-
Food		330.909	-	328.506	2.2	-0.7	-
Energy		273.528	(1)-	277.301	4.6	1.4	-
All items less food and energy		335.462	-	334.338	2.3	-0.3	-
All items less energy		333.646	-	332.342	2.3	-0.4	-
All items less medical care		315.647	-	314.515	2.6	-0.4	-
All items less shelter		289.979	-	288.365	1.7	-0.6	-
Commodities		217.982	-	215.218	1.1	-1.3	-
Commodities less food		171.089	-	168.332	0.4	-1.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages		168.601	-	165.623	0.3	-1.8	-
Durables		118.309	-	118.107	0.2	-0.2	-
Nondurables		270.967	-	266.362	1.4	-1.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		223.447	-	216.170	0.3	-3.3	-
Nondurables less food		223.445	-	217.092	0.5	-2.8	-
Services		422.184	-	423.039	3.1	0.2	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		449.452	-	450.673	2.7	0.3	-
Services less medical care services		410.244	-	410.964	3.4	0.2	-
Footnotes (1) Data unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations (2) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base.
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. NOTE: The October 2025 data values are not available due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations.