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 January 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that prices for all items less food and energy increased 0.6 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 advanced 2.7 percent for the 12 months ending in January. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.4 percent over the year. Both food prices and energy prices increased 4.0 percent in 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 2023–January 2026

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jan 2026	2.7	2.4

Food prices advanced 1.7 percent for the two months ending in January. Prices for food at home advanced 2.4 percent with higher prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials, up 12.4 percent for the same period. Prices for food away from home increased 0.7 percent.

Food prices increased 4.0 percent over the year. Prices for food at home increased 4.4 percent, and prices for food away from home increased 3.4 percent.

The energy index increased 1.4 percent for the two months ending in January. Gasoline prices declined 4.0 percent.

Energy prices advanced 4.0 percent over the year. Over the year, the gasoline index declined 7.6 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.6 percent during the two-month period. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for shelter (+0.9 percent) and apparel (+5.7 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for new and used motor vehicles (-1.4 percent) as prices for used cars and trucks decreased 4.7 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.4 percent over the year. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+3.2 percent) and other goods and services (+8.9 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for recreation (-4.3 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-1.1 percent) as prices for used cars and trucks decreased 2.1 percent over the year.

The March 2026 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on April 10, 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.

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Table 1. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, CPI-U by expenditure category for January 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025	Jan. 2026	Jan. 2025	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025
All items		324.286	-	326.890	2.7	0.8	-
All items (1967=100)		957.381	-	965.071	-	-	-
Food and beverages		319.237	-	323.912	3.8	1.5	-
Food		328.506	-	333.957	4.0	1.7	-
Food at home		302.604	303.470	309.748	4.4	2.4	2.1
Cereals and bakery products		426.863	419.547	430.244	2.2	0.8	2.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		340.986	339.802	337.611	2.7	-1.0	-0.6
Dairy and related products		295.557	295.546	293.624	0.9	-0.7	-0.7
Fruits and vegetables		287.650	290.488	304.184	6.4	5.7	4.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		267.094	272.763	300.260	13.2	12.4	10.1
Other food at home		252.838	254.768	255.802	3.8	1.2	0.4
Food away from home		364.553	-	367.182	3.4	0.7	-
Alcoholic beverages		232.269	-	230.565	0.8	-0.7	-
Housing		344.725	-	348.667	3.9	1.1	-
Shelter		411.028	412.009	414.687	3.2	0.9	0.6
Rent of primary residence		442.768	442.978	443.341	2.7	0.1	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		424.803	427.389	428.903	3.6	1.0	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		424.803	427.389	428.903	3.6	1.0	0.4
Household furnishings and operations		135.019	-	136.072	4.0	0.8	-
Apparel		157.869	-	166.797	9.1	5.7	-
Transportation		277.089	-	272.930	0.8	-1.5	-
Private transportation		284.128	-	279.497	-1.5	-1.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		127.630	-	125.852	-1.1	-1.4	-
New vehicles(1)		227.738	-	227.914	0.1	0.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		409.744	-	390.672	-2.1	-4.7	-
Motor fuel		287.607	276.968	276.120	-7.6	-4.0	-0.3
Gasoline (all types)		283.393	272.832	272.043	-7.6	-4.0	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		274.588	263.820	263.038	-8.1	-4.2	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		302.448	294.054	293.547	-5.3	-2.9	-0.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		319.752	311.430	310.632	-4.8	-2.9	-0.3
Medical care		533.981	-	534.197	0.1	0.0	-
Recreation(3)		129.841	-	133.232	-4.3	2.6	-
Education and communication(3)		170.862	-	171.209	1.3	0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,731.497	-	1,744.713	1.9	0.8	-
Other goods and services		575.814	-	575.799	8.9	0.0	-
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 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025	Jan. 2026	Jan. 2025	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025
All items		324.286	-	326.890	2.7	0.8	-
Food		328.506	-	333.957	4.0	1.7	-
Energy		277.301	274.256	281.045	4.0	1.4	2.5
All items less food and energy		334.338	-	336.412	2.4	0.6	-
All items less energy		332.342	-	334.928	2.7	0.8	-
All items less medical care		314.515	-	317.226	3.0	0.9	-
All items less shelter		288.365	-	290.541	2.5	0.8	-
Commodities		215.218	-	216.710	2.0	0.7	-
Commodities less food		168.332	-	168.473	0.7	0.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		165.623	-	165.852	0.7	0.1	-
Durables		118.107	-	116.927	-0.6	-1.0	-
Nondurables		266.362	-	270.237	3.1	1.5	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		216.170	-	219.413	2.2	1.5	-
Nondurables less food		217.092	-	219.748	2.0	1.2	-
Services		423.039	-	426.646	3.1	0.9	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		450.673	-	454.424	3.3	0.8	-
Services less medical care services		410.964	-	414.880	3.5	1.0	-
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.