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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Geographic Information > Mid-Atlantic > News Release
News Release Information

25-1410-PHI
Thursday, September 11, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson – August 2025

Area prices were up 0.3 percent over the past two months, up 2.8 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson was up 0.3 percent for the two months ending in August 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 advanced 0.2 percent, as the index for shelter rose. Since August, the energy index increased 1.8 percent, and the food index had no change in the same period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The Baltimore area all items CPI-U advanced 2.8 percent for the 12 months ending in August. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent, and the food index increased 3.1 percent. The energy index increased 1.4 percent over the same period.

Food

The food index remained unchanged from June to August. The food at home index declined 0.1 percent. Within food at home, prices for other food at home decreased 3.9 percent. In comparison, the index for food away from home advanced 0.1 percent.

The food index rose 3.1 percent over the year. Prices for the food away from home index increased 4.6 percent and the food at home index advanced 2.3 percent. Three of the six major food sub-indexes were up over the year, as seen in meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+11.0 percent); and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+8.2 percent).

Energy

The energy index increased 1.8 percent over the August two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices increased 1.1 percent.

The energy index increased 1.4 percent from August 2024 to August 2025. Over the year, the gasoline index decreased 6.0 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent during the two-month period ending in August. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for household furnishings and operations (+2.0 percent) and shelter (+1.0 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for other goods and services (-3.2 percent) and medical care (-2.5 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.9 percent over the year. The shelter index (+4.4 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, due in part to the increase in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+4.3 percent) index. Other increases include the household furnishings and operations index (+7.1 percent), medical care (+3.5 percent) and recreation (+3.3 percent). In contrast, the apparel index decreased, down 6.1 percent for the same period.

The Consumer Price Index for October 2025 for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, November 13, 2025.

Changes to the CPI

Changes to wireless telephone services source data and methodology

With this release, BLS has replaced survey data collected for the CPI’s wireless telephone services index with secondary source data and non-traditional index methods.

Additional information is available on the CPI website, www.bls.gov/cpi/additionalresources/alternative-data-wireless-telephone.htm, and in a new factsheet “Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Wireless Telephone Services,” www.bls.gov/cpi/factsheets/wireless-telephone-service.htm.

Changes to the health insurance index

With the release of October 2025 data on November 13, 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will remove long-term care (LTC) insurance from the health insurance index. Changes in the market for LTC insurance have made it out of scope and ineligible for pricing in the CPI market basket.


Technical Note

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 Baltimore area 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 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s counties, as well as Baltimore City, in Maryland.

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. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, CPI-U by expenditure category for August 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Expenditure category

 Indexes Percent change from:
Historical
data		 Jun.
2025		 Jul.
2025		 Aug.
2025		 Aug.
2024		 Jun.
2025		 Jul.
2025

All items

 325.409 - 326.294 2.8 0.3 -

All items (1967=100)

 973.270 - 975.919 - - -

Food and beverages

 344.401 - 345.300 3.0 0.3 -

Food

 345.411 - 345.338 3.1 0.0 -

Food at home

 300.912 300.399 300.640 2.3 -0.1 0.1

Cereals and bakery products

 359.706 365.240 365.675 -1.4 1.7 0.1

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

 331.543 329.585 336.323 11.0 1.4 2.0

Dairy and related products

 265.735 273.704 269.196 -1.7 1.3 -1.6

Fruits and vegetables

 314.586 319.694 319.263 1.8 1.5 -0.1

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

 234.041 231.816 236.484 8.2 1.0 2.0

Other food at home

 276.632 270.845 265.810 -3.3 -3.9 -1.9

Food away from home

 410.207 - 410.577 4.6 0.1 -

Alcoholic beverages

 327.921 - 339.732 2.0 3.6 -

Housing

 331.035 - 335.205 5.1 1.3 -

Shelter

 388.368 390.324 392.254 4.4 1.0 0.5

Rent of primary residence

 447.430 449.858 451.168 3.6 0.8 0.3

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

 408.539 409.128 410.953 4.3 0.6 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

 408.539 409.128 410.953 4.3 0.6 0.4

Household furnishings and operations

 141.651 - 144.457 7.1 2.0 -

Apparel

 118.126 - 120.177 -6.1 1.7 -

Transportation

 283.852 - 282.083 -1.0 -0.6 -

Private transportation

 293.077 - 292.679 0.2 -0.1 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

 137.134 - 136.977 2.0 -0.1 -

New vehicles(1)

 278.053 - 277.832 0.5 -0.1 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

 330.450 - 332.794 5.3 0.7 -

Motor fuel

 273.650 277.840 276.739 -5.7 1.1 -0.4

Gasoline (all types)

 267.329 271.400 270.306 -6.0 1.1 -0.4

Unleaded regular(4)

 269.024 273.345 272.217 -6.1 1.2 -0.4

Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

 296.868 298.961 297.658 -5.7 0.3 -0.4

Unleaded premium(4)

 284.714 287.829 286.847 -5.0 0.7 -0.3

Medical care

 554.315 - 540.339 3.5 -2.5 -

Recreation(3)

 154.794 - 154.084 3.3 -0.5 -

Education and communication(3)

 160.592 - 162.137 -0.9 1.0 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

 1,432.433 - 1,479.664 4.2 3.3 -

Other goods and services

 615.378 - 595.893 4.8 -3.2 -

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a March 1978=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. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, CPI-U by special aggregate index for August 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Special aggregate index

 Indexes Percent change from:
Historical
data		 Jun.
2025		 Jul.
2025		 Aug.
2025		 Aug.
2024		 Jun.
2025		 Jul.
2025

All items

 325.409 - 326.294 2.8 0.3 -

Food

 345.411 - 345.338 3.1 0.0 -

Energy

 296.931 303.978 302.208 1.4 1.8 -0.6

All items less food and energy

 327.462 - 328.134 2.9 0.2 -

All items less energy

 329.800 - 330.387 2.9 0.2 -

All items less medical care

 314.137 - 315.707 2.8 0.5 -

All items less shelter

 302.100 - 301.663 2.0 -0.1 -

Commodities

 231.319 - 233.065 0.9 0.8 -

Commodities less food

 186.203 - 188.400 -0.6 1.2 -

Commodities less food & beverages

 181.800 - 183.731 -0.7 1.1 -

Durables

 131.592 - 132.479 1.3 0.7 -

Nondurables

 280.576 - 282.805 0.8 0.8 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

 226.199 - 229.636 -2.0 1.5 -

Nondurables less food

 231.676 - 235.657 -1.7 1.7 -

Services

 417.395 - 417.574 3.9 0.0 -

Services less rent of shelter(1)

 466.067 - 461.182 3.4 -1.0 -

Services less medical care services

 404.163 - 405.867 4.1 0.4 -

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, September 11, 2025