The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area increased 0.9 percent for the two months ending in September 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Regional Commissioner Lori Keller noted that prices for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 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 4.1 percent for the 12 months ending in September. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.0 percent over the year. Energy prices advanced 26.4 percent. Food prices advanced 3.5 percent.

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jul 2026	4.0	2.8
Sep 2026	4.1	3.0

View Chart Data

Food

Food prices rose 0.1 percent for the two months ending in September. Prices for food at home were unchanged, and prices for food away from home advanced 0.3 percent for the same period.

Food prices advanced 3.5 percent over the year. Prices for food at home rose 3.5 percent, and prices for food away from home advanced 3.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 0.4 percent for the two months ending in September. Gasoline prices increased 5.5 percent.

Energy prices advanced 26.4 percent over the year. Over the year, the gasoline index was up 33.8 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.1 percent during the two-month period. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for shelter (+1.5 percent) and apparel (+4.2 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for medical care (-0.3 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.0 percent over the year. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+4.1 percent) and other goods and services (+11.4 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for recreation (-4.4 percent) and medical care (-0.6 percent).

The November 2026 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on December 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.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

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

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Jul. 2026	Aug. 2026	Sep. 2026	Sep. 2025	Jul. 2026	Aug. 2026
All items		335.716	-	338.730	4.1	0.9	-
All items (1967=100)		991.128	-	1,000.025	-	-	-
Food and beverages		331.208	-	331.527	3.3	0.1	-
Food		342.151	-	342.610	3.5	0.1	-
Food at home		316.730	314.908	316.713	3.5	0.0	0.6
Cereals and bakery products		435.972	433.134	436.116	0.4	0.0	0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		344.780	345.276	343.690	1.4	-0.3	-0.5
Dairy and related products		291.453	289.920	288.709	-3.1	-0.9	-0.4
Fruits and vegetables		313.645	309.819	315.254	3.9	0.5	1.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		309.715	307.225	316.433	13.4	2.2	3.0
Other food at home		263.826	262.043	261.918	5.5	-0.7	0.0
Food away from home		377.208	-	378.439	3.5	0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		230.512	-	229.733	0.5	-0.3	-
Housing		358.621	-	362.046	5.3	1.0	-
Shelter		420.950	423.024	427.266	4.1	1.5	1.0
Rent of primary residence		445.589	445.993	446.200	1.2	0.1	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		434.875	436.123	438.309	3.4	0.8	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		434.875	436.123	438.309	3.4	0.8	0.5
Household furnishings and operations		143.491	-	145.519	7.1	1.4	-
Apparel		166.279	-	173.261	3.2	4.2	-
Transportation		286.280	-	290.813	5.6	1.6	-
Private transportation		292.410	-	295.353	3.3	1.0	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		127.675	-	127.780	-0.4	0.1	-
New vehicles(1)		228.625	-	229.205	0.5	0.3	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		403.929	-	403.564	-1.5	-0.1	-
Motor fuel		371.624	376.380	393.000	33.6	5.8	4.4
Gasoline (all types)		367.782	372.098	387.968	33.8	5.5	4.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		358.886	363.192	379.196	34.8	5.7	4.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		381.266	385.433	398.846	29.6	4.6	3.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		398.232	402.292	416.242	28.2	4.5	3.5
Medical care		531.607	-	529.818	-0.6	-0.3	-
Recreation(3)		134.565	-	135.087	-4.4	0.4	-
Education and communication(3)		176.096	-	177.307	4.9	0.7	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(6)		102.385	-	105.103	3.7	2.7	-
Other goods and services		600.406	-	608.935	11.4	1.4	-
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 September 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Jul. 2026	Aug. 2026	Sep. 2026	Sep. 2025	Jul. 2026	Aug. 2026
All items		335.716	-	338.730	4.1	0.9	-
Food		342.151	-	342.610	3.5	0.1	-
Energy		347.148	340.080	345.631	26.4	-0.4	1.6
All items less food and energy		341.703	-	345.561	3.0	1.1	-
All items less energy		340.659	-	343.969	3.1	1.0	-
All items less medical care		326.579	-	329.814	4.5	1.0	-
All items less shelter		300.200	-	301.962	4.1	0.6	-
Commodities		223.955	-	226.319	3.8	1.1	-
Commodities less food		175.054	-	177.908	4.0	1.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages		172.718	-	175.728	4.2	1.7	-
Durables		119.919	-	120.917	2.2	0.8	-
Nondurables		280.219	-	283.453	4.6	1.2	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		232.483	-	238.891	6.9	2.8	-
Nondurables less food		231.350	-	236.958	6.0	2.4	-
Services		436.435	-	439.913	4.2	0.8	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		469.149	-	468.785	4.3	-0.1	-
Services less medical care services		425.388	-	429.588	4.7	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.