The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area advanced 1.3 percent for the two months ending in May 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Lori Keller noted that prices for the all items less food and energy index increased 1.0 percent, marking the index’s first increase of 1.0 percent or higher since September 2023. (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 rose 4.1 percent for the 12 months ending in May. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.9 percent, as the energy index advanced 25.9 percent and the food index was up 4.3 percent for the same period.

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, May 2023–May 2026

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Mar 2026	3.0	2.0
May 2026	4.1	2.9

Food prices increased 0.2 percent from March to May. Prices for food at home were up 0.2 percent as well, with higher prices for meats, poultry, fish and eggs, up 2.3 percent for the same period. Prices for food away from home rose 0.3 percent.

Food prices advanced 4.3 percent over the year. Prices for food at home increased 4.6 percent as prices for all major food subindexes rose. Within the food at home index, nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials prices were up 15.2 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 3.8 percent.

The energy index increased 9.8 percent for the two months ending in May. Gasoline prices were up 19.6 percent.

Energy prices advanced 25.9 percent from May 2025 to May 2026, the largest increase since July 2022 (+31.4 percent). Over the year, the gasoline index rose 40.6 percent, also the largest advance since July 2022 (+47.9 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.0 percent during the two-month period. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for shelter (+1.1 percent), other goods and services (+3.7 percent), and public transportation. In contrast, prices were lower for medical care (-1.6 percent) as prices for medical care commodities decreased.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.9 percent over the year. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+3.8 percent), household furnishings and operations (+7.3 percent), and other goods and services (+9.2 percent). In contrast, prices for recreation decreased 6.8 percent over the year.

The July 2026 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on August 12, 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 May 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026	May 2026	May 2025	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026
All items		330.277	-	334.707	4.1	1.3	-
All items (1967=100)		975.071	-	988.148	-	-	-
Food and beverages		327.551	-	328.137	4.0	0.2	-
Food		337.964	-	338.696	4.3	0.2	-
Food at home		312.988	313.831	313.553	4.6	0.2	-0.1
Cereals and bakery products		432.630	433.788	420.340	2.7	-2.8	-3.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		339.335	339.926	347.147	3.6	2.3	2.1
Dairy and related products		287.373	291.262	294.974	3.0	2.6	1.3
Fruits and vegetables		309.435	313.928	311.627	6.0	0.7	-0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		321.021	309.069	310.417	15.2	-3.3	0.4
Other food at home		255.685	258.460	256.204	2.0	0.2	-0.9
Food away from home		372.370	-	373.363	3.8	0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		231.167	-	230.578	1.8	-0.3	-
Housing		351.686	-	355.746	4.8	1.2	-
Shelter		417.248	419.151	421.657	3.8	1.1	0.6
Rent of primary residence		443.678	444.389	445.206	1.9	0.3	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		431.028	432.775	434.857	4.2	0.9	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		431.028	432.775	434.857	4.2	0.9	0.5
Household furnishings and operations		138.410	-	140.896	7.3	1.8	-
Apparel		167.352	-	171.964	10.3	2.8	-
Transportation		279.440	-	291.609	7.3	4.4	-
Private transportation		285.187	-	295.507	3.8	3.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		125.137	-	126.360	-1.4	1.0	-
New vehicles(1)		227.934	-	228.328	-0.1	0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		385.978	-	395.126	-2.0	2.4	-
Motor fuel		345.452	387.120	412.847	40.2	19.5	6.6
Gasoline (all types)		341.452	382.455	408.212	40.6	19.6	6.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		333.252	374.253	400.280	42.0	20.1	7.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		351.635	391.233	413.717	34.9	17.7	5.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		369.588	407.500	429.822	32.9	16.3	5.5
Medical care		535.772	-	526.942	-1.4	-1.6	-
Recreation(3)		134.595	-	133.244	-6.8	-1.0	-
Education and communication(3)		172.652	-	174.562	2.3	1.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(6)		102.172	-	102.188	0.3	0.0	-
Other goods and services		565.997	-	587.135	9.2	3.7	-
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. (6) Indexes on a December 2024=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 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026	May 2026	May 2025	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026
All items		330.277	-	334.707	4.1	1.3	-
Food		337.964	-	338.696	4.3	0.2	-
Energy		314.524	332.568	345.320	25.9	9.8	3.8
All items less food and energy		337.665	-	341.181	2.9	1.0	-
All items less energy		336.610	-	339.677	3.1	0.9	-
All items less medical care		320.696	-	325.739	4.5	1.6	-
All items less shelter		294.190	-	298.572	4.2	1.5	-
Commodities		220.752	-	223.818	4.4	1.4	-
Commodities less food		172.324	-	175.983	4.5	2.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		169.843	-	173.684	4.7	2.3	-
Durables		117.530	-	118.559	0.9	0.9	-
Nondurables		276.907	-	281.377	6.0	1.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		229.460	-	238.164	9.3	3.8	-
Nondurables less food		228.736	-	236.404	8.4	3.4	-
Services		428.836	-	434.457	3.8	1.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		456.011	-	463.408	3.7	1.6	-
Services less medical care services		417.115	-	423.294	4.1	1.5	-
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.