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

25-834-PHI
Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

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

Area prices up 0.5 percent over the two months, up 2.9 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington was up 0.5 percent from February to April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the all items less food and energy index rose 0.6 percent as shelter prices increased 0.5 percent. The energy index advanced 1.0 percent, and the food index decreased 0.2 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 2.9 percent for the 12 months ending in April. The index for all items less food and energy also rose 3.1 percent. The food index increased 2.6 percent, and the energy index decreased 0.3 percent over the same period.

Food

The food index was down 0.2 percent for the two months ending in April. The index for food at home also decreased 0.9 percent, with lower prices in 3 of the 6 major food store sub-indexes. Within food at home, prices for other food at home fell 2.6 percent, and prices for fruits and vegetables declined 2.0 percent. The food away from home index increased 0.5 percent.

The food index rose 2.6 percent over the year as the food away from home index increased 4.8 percent. The food at home index advanced 1.0 percent in the same period. Three of the six major food store sub-indexes increased over the year, led by meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index, up 8.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 1.0 percent over the two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices decreased 0.5 percent.

The energy index decreased 0.3 percent from April 2024 to April 2025. Over the year, the gasoline index declined 12.2 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent from February to April. The index for shelter continued to increase, up 0.5 percent over the bi-monthly period, with the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences rising 0.6 percent. Further price increases included household furnishings and operations up 5.4 percent, and new and used motor vehicles, up 1.1 percent. Education and communication prices decreased 0.7 percent in the same period.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.1 percent over the year. The shelter index, up 4.5 percent, was the largest contributor to the increase, as the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index and rent of primary residence advanced 4.9 and 4.7 percent respectively. The medical care index rose 2.4 percent and public transportation prices increased as well.

The June 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington-Area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.

Publication updates and changes

In accordance with annual practice, relative importance weights have been updated and are available online in the CPI Supplemental Table of Contents.

Effective with the January 2025 data release, several indexes and average price series were discontinued. More information is available on the CPI discontinued series page. Direct any inquiries to the CPI office using one of the CPI contact information options listed online.


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, Cumberland, 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 April 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Expenditure category

 Indexes Percent change from:
Historical
data		 Feb.
2025		 Mar.
2025		 Apr.
2025		 Apr.
2024		 Feb.
2025		 Mar.
2025

All items

 320.935 - 322.548 2.9 0.5 -

All items (1967=100)

 927.162 - 931.824 - - -

Food and beverages

 308.897 - 308.113 2.5 -0.3 -

Food

 311.911 - 311.211 2.6 -0.2 -

Food at home

 314.853 312.809 312.149 1.0 -0.9 -0.2

Cereals and bakery products

 405.299 403.770 405.804 -4.8 0.1 0.5

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

 367.451 372.024 370.020 8.8 0.7 -0.5

Dairy and related products

 244.539 239.742 242.823 0.8 -0.7 1.3

Fruits and vegetables

 302.929 302.356 296.986 -2.5 -2.0 -1.8

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

 222.532 223.569 224.919 7.1 1.1 0.6

Other food at home

 298.922 291.635 291.277 -2.7 -2.6 -0.1

Food away from home

 299.259 - 300.866 4.8 0.5 -

Alcoholic beverages

 263.383 - 261.511 1.9 -0.7 -

Housing

 345.455 - 348.874 4.6 1.0 -

Shelter

 428.505 428.823 430.623 4.5 0.5 0.4

Rent of primary residence

 404.877 405.228 406.891 4.7 0.5 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

 442.047 443.126 444.672 4.9 0.6 0.3

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

 442.047 443.126 444.672 4.9 0.6 0.3

Household furnishings and operations

 143.549 - 151.355 3.7 5.4 -

Apparel

 114.220 - 113.811 -0.9 -0.4 -

Transportation

 280.441 - 280.838 0.8 0.1 -

Private transportation

 289.821 - 290.143 -0.8 0.1 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

 133.386 - 134.916 0.9 1.1 -

New vehicles(1)

 238.662 - 240.060 0.4 0.6 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

 343.966 - 345.429 1.7 0.4 -

Motor fuel

 289.284 283.307 287.845 -12.2 -0.5 1.6

Gasoline (all types)

 285.569 279.658 284.149 -12.2 -0.5 1.6

Unleaded regular(4)

 279.809 273.590 278.466 -12.7 -0.5 1.8

Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

 303.013 298.796 301.033 -10.2 -0.7 0.7

Unleaded premium(4)

 302.499 298.534 300.754 -9.5 -0.6 0.7

Medical care

 606.573 - 610.165 2.4 0.6 -

Recreation(3)

 137.857 - 138.795 -0.5 0.7 -

Education and communication(3)

 141.067 - 140.127 0.5 -0.7 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

 1,196.262 - 1,196.334 3.3 0.0 -

Other goods and services

 719.074 - 719.853 3.8 0.1 -

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 April 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Special aggregate index

 Indexes Percent change from:
Historical
data		 Feb.
2025		 Mar.
2025		 Apr.
2025		 Apr.
2024		 Feb.
2025		 Mar.
2025

All items

 320.935 - 322.548 2.9 0.5 -

Food

 311.911 - 311.211 2.6 -0.2 -

Energy

 261.791 262.736 264.510 -0.3 1.0 0.7

All items less food and energy

 336.493 - 338.446 3.1 0.6 -

All items less energy

 330.099 - 331.653 3.1 0.5 -

All items less medical care

 308.750 - 310.280 2.9 0.5 -

All items less shelter

 283.935 - 285.379 2.0 0.5 -

Commodities

 223.470 - 223.089 -0.4 -0.2 -

Commodities less food

 181.398 - 181.163 -2.8 -0.1 -

Commodities less food & beverages

 177.959 - 177.780 -3.1 -0.1 -

Durables

 126.464 - 127.231 -2.2 0.6 -

Nondurables

 267.188 - 265.964 0.1 -0.5 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

 223.702 - 221.910 -3.5 -0.8 -

Nondurables less food

 226.241 - 224.448 -3.1 -0.8 -

Services

 417.222 - 420.519 4.6 0.8 -

Services less rent of shelter(1)

 413.141 - 418.270 4.9 1.2 -

Services less medical care services

 402.122 - 405.378 4.7 0.8 -

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: Tuesday, May 13, 2025