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

25-1409-PHI
Thursday, September 11, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington — August 2025

Area prices were up 0.5 percent over the two months, up 3.3 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington was up 0.5 percent from June to August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the all items less food and energy index also rose 0.5 percent as shelter prices increased. The food index advanced 1.4 percent, and the energy index decreased 1.3 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The Philadelphia-area all items CPI-U advanced 3.3 percent for the 12 months ending in August. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent. This is the first time since February 2023, that the all items index 12-month percent change is higher than the all items less food and energy. The food index increased 2.6 percent, and the energy index was up 5.1 percent over the same period.

Food

The food index was up 1.4 percent for the two months ending in August. The index for food at home increased 2.4 percent, with higher prices in all the major food categories. Within food at home, prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 4.1 percent, as did prices for fruits and vegetables. The food away from home index increased 0.3 percent.

The food index advanced 2.6 percent over the year as the food away from home index increased 3.2 percent. The food at home index rose 2.2 percent in the same period. Four of the six major food categories increased over the year, with the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index, up 8.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 1.3 percent over the two-month pricing period ending in August. Gasoline prices were unchanged.

The energy index advanced 5.1 percent from August 2024 to August 2025. Over the year, the gasoline index declined 6.3 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent from June to August. The index for shelter advanced 0.6 percent over the bi-monthly period, with the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences rising 0.4 percent. Further price increases included education and communication, up 1.6 percent, and household furnishings and operations, up 1.7 percent. Prices were lower for recreation (-1.5 percent) and medical care (-0.8 percent) in the same period.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent over the year. The shelter index, up 3.4 percent, was the main contributor to the increase, as both the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index and rent of primary residence advanced 3.9 percent. The household furnishings and operations index rose 8.4 percent and prices for education and communication increased 4.0 percent.

The October 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington-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 the Philadelphia 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County 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. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-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

 324.636 - 326.334 3.3 0.5 -

All items (1967=100)

 937.855 - 942.761 - - -

Food and beverages

 307.457 - 311.529 2.6 1.3 -

Food

 310.186 - 314.549 2.6 1.4 -

Food at home

 309.951 309.762 317.306 2.2 2.4 2.4

Cereals and bakery products

 406.540 410.154 413.698 -1.7 1.8 0.9

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

 364.407 362.264 379.460 8.7 4.1 4.7

Dairy and related products

 241.493 238.557 243.718 0.7 0.9 2.2

Fruits and vegetables

 293.641 293.670 305.801 2.2 4.1 4.1

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

 220.363 222.111 225.346 2.5 2.3 1.5

Other food at home

 291.990 291.658 294.313 -0.4 0.8 0.9

Food away from home

 301.211 - 302.029 3.2 0.3 -

Alcoholic beverages

 265.744 - 265.897 3.2 0.1 -

Housing

 353.249 - 355.000 4.5 0.5 -

Shelter

 433.264 435.546 436.028 3.4 0.6 0.1

Rent of primary residence

 409.271 409.635 411.203 3.9 0.5 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

 446.848 447.650 448.739 3.9 0.4 0.2

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

 446.848 447.650 448.739 3.9 0.4 0.2

Household furnishings and operations

 155.457 - 158.148 8.4 1.7 -

Apparel

 111.667 - 115.989 2.7 3.9 -

Transportation

 280.558 - 281.859 2.2 0.5 -

Private transportation

 292.228 - 293.253 1.0 0.4 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

 135.261 - 135.549 1.3 0.2 -

New vehicles(1)

 239.640 - 240.264 1.0 0.3 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

 353.020 - 355.523 5.3 0.7 -

Motor fuel

 292.055 292.129 292.044 -6.2 0.0 0.0

Gasoline (all types)

 288.361 288.372 288.272 -6.3 0.0 0.0

Unleaded regular(4)

 282.660 282.514 282.287 -6.5 -0.1 -0.1

Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

 304.608 305.268 305.864 -5.7 0.4 0.2

Unleaded premium(4)

 304.905 305.761 306.343 -5.0 0.5 0.2

Medical care

 611.129 - 606.516 1.1 -0.8 -

Recreation(3)

 140.064 - 137.902 0.0 -1.5 -

Education and communication(3)

 141.081 - 143.353 4.0 1.6 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

 1,206.316 - 1,237.256 6.8 2.6 -

Other goods and services

 718.156 - 721.335 2.4 0.4 -

Footnotes
(1) Index is on a December 1977=100 base.
(2) Index is on a December 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. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-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

 324.636 - 326.334 3.3 0.5 -

Food

 310.186 - 314.549 2.6 1.4 -

Energy

 278.729 278.698 275.074 5.1 -1.3 -1.3

All items less food and energy

 340.040 - 341.808 3.2 0.5 -

All items less energy

 332.856 - 334.983 3.1 0.6 -

All items less medical care

 312.410 - 314.362 3.4 0.6 -

All items less shelter

 287.294 - 288.566 3.2 0.4 -

Commodities

 223.289 - 225.353 1.0 0.9 -

Commodities less food

 181.897 - 182.923 -0.3 0.6 -

Commodities less food & beverages

 178.392 - 179.445 -0.5 0.6 -

Durables

 128.312 - 128.799 0.5 0.4 -

Nondurables

 265.448 - 268.449 1.1 1.1 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

 221.549 - 223.329 -1.1 0.8 -

Nondurables less food

 224.449 - 226.096 -0.8 0.7 -

Services

 424.232 - 425.737 4.3 0.4 -

Services less rent of shelter(1)

 423.483 - 423.296 5.6 0.0 -

Services less medical care services

 408.907 - 410.930 4.5 0.5 -

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 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