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News Release Information

25-216-PHI
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area – January 2025

Area prices were up 0.5 percent over the two months, up 2.7 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria was up 0.5 percent for the two months ending in January 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 also increased 0.5 percent and energy prices rose 1.9 percent. The food index decreased 0.1 percent for the same period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The Washington area all items CPI-U advanced 2.7 percent for the 12 months ending in January. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.8 percent, the food index increased 1.8 percent, and the energy index was up 3.6 percent over the same period.

Food

The food index was down 0.1 percent for the two months ending in January. The index for food at home decreased 0.3 percent, with lower prices in most of the categories. The fruits and vegetables group prices decreased 3.6 percent, the largest decrease since November 2020 (-5.6 percent). Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs was one category with higher prices at 4.5 percent, the largest increase since September 2021 (+4.7 percent). The food away from home index, which includes restaurants, cafeteria, and vending purchases, rose 0.1 percent.

The food index advanced 1.8 percent over the year. The food away from home index increased 2.5 percent, and the food at home index rose 1.2 percent. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the year, whereas fruits and vegetables recorded its largest decline since the index began in November 2018, at 6.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.9 percent over the two-month pricing period. The gasoline index increased 1.4 percent, the first increase since May 2024.

The energy index increased 3.6 percent from January 2024 to January 2025. Over the year, the gasoline index rose 1.0 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.5 percent during the two-month period. The index for shelter increased, up 1.2 percent over the bi-monthly period. The index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences rose 0.8 percent, and the index for rent of primary residence increased 0.9 percent. In contrast, indexes for apparel (-3.0 percent), and public transportation declined.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.8 percent over the year. The shelter index (+4.0 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, due in part to the increase in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (+3.7 percent). The rent of primary residence index rose 3.9 percent. Other index increases included recreation (+7.9 percent), education and communication (+1.6 percent), and new and used motor vehicles at 1.0 percent — the first over-the-year increase since a 1.7-percent rise in January 2024.

The March 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, April 10, 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 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.

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 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.

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. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, CPI-U by expenditure category for January 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Expenditure category

Indexes Percent change from:
Historical
data
Nov.
2024
Dec.
2024
Jan.
2025
Jan.
2024
Nov.
2024
Dec.
2024

All items

316.745 - 318.175 2.7 0.5 -

All items (1967=100)

935.118 - 939.340 - - -

Food and beverages

312.374 - 312.141 2.0 -0.1 -

Food

321.368 - 321.023 1.8 -0.1 -

Food at home

297.460 297.984 296.666 1.2 -0.3 -0.4

Cereals and bakery products

414.039 415.522 421.069 10.0 1.7 1.3

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

314.450 318.836 328.729 6.2 4.5 3.1

Dairy and related products

292.212 291.190 291.136 -0.3 -0.4 0.0

Fruits and vegetables

296.512 302.537 285.837 -6.9 -3.6 -5.5

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

266.603 263.535 265.239 1.2 -0.5 0.6

Other food at home

251.646 248.470 246.373 0.0 -2.1 -0.8

Food away from home

354.752 - 354.984 2.5 0.1 -

Alcoholic beverages

227.869 - 228.841 4.0 0.4 -

Housing

331.793 - 335.690 3.6 1.2 -

Shelter

397.041 399.621 401.862 4.0 1.2 0.6

Rent of primary residence

428.019 429.409 431.781 3.9 0.9 0.6

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

410.622 412.167 413.931 3.7 0.8 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

410.622 412.167 413.931 3.7 0.8 0.4

Household furnishings and operations

130.229 - 130.873 -0.9 0.5 -

Apparel

157.518 - 152.865 -3.2 -3.0 -

Transportation

272.378 - 270.710 2.0 -0.6 -

Private transportation

282.265 - 283.871 2.3 0.6 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

126.374 - 127.260 1.0 0.7 -

New vehicles(1)

227.127 - 227.661 -0.6 0.2 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

395.784 - 398.925 2.4 0.8 -

Motor fuel

294.556 286.563 298.685 0.9 1.4 4.2

Gasoline (all types)

290.341 282.446 294.420 1.0 1.4 4.2

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

281.730 273.829 286.158 1.0 1.6 4.5

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

308.133 300.937 310.001 0.7 0.6 3.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

324.809 317.578 326.291 0.6 0.5 2.7

Medical care

532.563 - 533.808 -0.2 0.2 -

Recreation(3)

136.765 - 139.163 7.9 1.8 -

Education and communication(3)

168.831 - 169.067 1.6 0.1 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,707.100 - 1,712.541 2.6 0.3 -

Other goods and services

524.837 - 528.518 1.2 0.7 -

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.

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

Indexes Percent change from:
Historical
data
Nov.
2024
Dec.
2024
Jan.
2025
Jan.
2024
Nov.
2024
Dec.
2024

All items

316.745 - 318.175 2.7 0.5 -

Food

321.368 - 321.023 1.8 -0.1 -

Energy

265.173 260.235 270.217 3.6 1.9 3.8

All items less food and energy

326.758 - 328.373 2.8 0.5 -

All items less energy

324.848 - 326.180 2.6 0.4 -

All items less medical care

306.652 - 308.093 2.9 0.5 -

All items less shelter

283.429 - 283.462 1.8 0.0 -

Commodities

212.927 - 212.511 -0.1 -0.2 -

Commodities less food

167.721 - 167.311 -1.1 -0.2 -

Commodities less food & beverages

165.148 - 164.690 -1.4 -0.3 -

Durables

117.822 - 117.611 -1.3 -0.2 -

Nondurables

262.653 - 262.119 0.5 -0.2 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

215.468 - 214.651 -1.6 -0.4 -

Nondurables less food

216.074 - 215.419 -1.0 -0.3 -

Services

410.367 - 413.646 4.1 0.8 -

Services less rent of shelter(1)

438.653 - 439.810 4.2 0.3 -

Services less medical care services

397.634 - 401.025 4.4 0.9 -

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: Wednesday, February 12, 2025