The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson was down 0.6 percent from April to June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Regional Commissioner Lori Keller noted that energy prices declined as did the all items less food and energy index, while food index prices increased. (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 increased 2.7 percent for the 12 months ending in June. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.9 percent, the energy index was up 16.8 percent, and the food index advanced 2.6 percent over the same period.

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, June 2023–June 2026

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jun 2023	2.8	4.2
Aug 2023	3.1	3.1
Oct 2023	2.2	2.4
Dec 2023	2.1	2.0
Feb 2024	2.6	2.7
Apr 2024	2.9	2.8
Jun 2024	3.0	2.9
Aug 2024	3.0	3.6
Oct 2024	3.4	3.9
Dec 2024	3.4	4.0
Feb 2025	3.2	3.3
Apr 2025	3.0	3.6
Jun 2025	3.0	3.5
Aug 2025	2.8	2.9
Oct 2025	-	-
Dec 2025	3.4	3.3
Feb 2026	1.7	2.9
Apr 2026	3.6	2.7
Jun 2026	2.7	1.9
Note: The October 2025 data values are not available due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations.

The food index increased 0.1 percent for the two months ending in June. The index for food at home was up 0.4 percent with higher prices in fruits and vegetables (+1.5 percent). The food away from home index decreased 0.4 percent for the same period.

The food index rose 2.6 percent over the year. The food at home index was up 3.4 percent as prices increased for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+4.5 percent); fruits and vegetables (+4.9 percent); and cereals and bakery products (+5.8 percent). The food away from home index advanced 1.3 percent.

The energy index decreased 5.3 percent over the June two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices declined 5.5 percent.

The energy index was up 16.8 percent from June 2025 to June 2026. Over the year, the gasoline index increased 23.5 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy was down 0.4 percent from April to June. Among the index’s components, prices were lower for public transportation, apparel (-5.2 percent) and medical care (-0.4 percent). In contrast, prices were higher for new and used motor vehicles (+3.0 percent) and shelter (+0.5 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.9 percent over the year. The shelter index was up 3.0 percent, due in part to the increases in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+3.2 percent) and rent of primary residence (+2.8 percent) indexes. Other price increases include recreation (+2.8 percent), education and communication (+2.9 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+3.9 percent).

The Consumer Price Index for August 2026 is scheduled to be released on Friday, September 11, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 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 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.

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

Table 1. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, CPI-U by expenditure category for June 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Apr. 2026	May 2026	Jun. 2026	Jun. 2025	Apr. 2026	May 2026
All items		336.347	-	334.324	2.7	-0.6	-
All items (1967=100)		1,005.986	-	999.936	-	-	-
Food and beverages		353.501	-	353.940	2.8	0.1	-
Food		354.047	-	354.286	2.6	0.1	-
Food at home		309.952	308.623	311.230	3.4	0.4	0.8
Cereals and bakery products		380.463	382.499	380.686	5.8	0.1	-0.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		345.025	341.220	346.473	4.5	0.4	1.5
Dairy and related products		273.447	277.895	279.491	5.2	2.2	0.6
Fruits and vegetables		325.075	332.009	329.989	4.9	1.5	-0.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		247.223	245.875	243.696	4.1	-1.4	-0.9
Other food at home		274.619	267.903	275.647	-0.4	0.4	2.9
Food away from home		417.192	-	415.392	1.3	-0.4	-
Alcoholic beverages		341.405	-	344.539	5.1	0.9	-
Housing		343.068	-	343.718	3.8	0.2	-
Shelter		397.716	399.444	399.887	3.0	0.5	0.1
Rent of primary residence		457.190	458.197	460.128	2.8	0.6	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		417.763	419.786	421.782	3.2	1.0	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		417.763	419.786	421.782	3.2	1.0	0.5
Household furnishings and operations		144.753	-	147.201	3.9	1.7	-
Apparel		130.849	-	124.033	5.0	-5.2	-
Transportation		297.397	-	286.366	0.9	-3.7	-
Private transportation		301.832	-	294.647	0.5	-2.4	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		134.647	-	138.646	1.1	3.0	-
New vehicles(1)		279.140	-	279.517	0.5	0.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		314.653	-	323.172	-2.2	2.7	-
Motor fuel		358.144	384.164	338.172	23.6	-5.6	-12.0
Gasoline (all types)		349.584	375.179	330.254	23.5	-5.5	-12.0
Unleaded regular(4)		354.079	380.652	333.803	24.1	-5.7	-12.3
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		375.963	401.213	361.227	21.7	-3.9	-10.0
Unleaded premium(4)		358.821	381.235	342.808	20.4	-4.5	-10.1
Medical care		554.375	-	552.265	-0.4	-0.4	-
Recreation(3)		156.818	-	159.103	2.8	1.5	-
Education and communication(3)		164.653	-	165.213	2.9	0.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,498.010	-	1,498.010	4.6	0.0	-
Other goods and services		632.155	-	632.096	2.7	0.0	-
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 June 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Apr. 2026	May 2026	Jun. 2026	Jun. 2025	Apr. 2026	May 2026
All items		336.347	-	334.324	2.7	-0.6	-
Food		354.047	-	354.286	2.6	0.1	-
Energy		366.296	384.464	346.722	16.8	-5.3	-9.8
All items less food and energy		334.821	-	333.649	1.9	-0.4	-
All items less energy		337.241	-	336.291	2.0	-0.3	-
All items less medical care		325.563	-	323.546	3.0	-0.6	-
All items less shelter		313.620	-	309.943	2.6	-1.2	-
Commodities		238.862	-	237.872	2.8	-0.4	-
Commodities less food		193.489	-	192.074	3.2	-0.7	-
Commodities less food & beverages		188.899	-	187.365	3.1	-0.8	-
Durables		129.555	-	131.167	-0.3	1.2	-
Nondurables		295.694	-	292.510	4.3	-1.1	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		248.591	-	241.543	6.8	-2.8	-
Nondurables less food		253.398	-	247.055	6.6	-2.5	-
Services		431.414	-	428.312	2.6	-0.7	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		487.040	-	476.413	2.2	-2.2	-
Services less medical care services		419.213	-	416.000	2.9	-0.8	-
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.