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

25-492-PHI
Thursday, April 10, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria — March 2025

Area prices were up 0.8 percent over the two months, up 2.4 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area advanced 0.8 percent for the two months ending in March 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 increased 0.8 percent. Prices for food rose 0.7 percent while the energy index ticked down 0.1 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area all items CPI-U increased 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending in March. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.7 percent over the year. Food prices rose 2.5 percent while energy prices decreased 2.4 percent.

Food

Food prices advanced 0.7 percent for the two months ending in March.  Prices for food away from home increased 1.1 percent while prices for food at home rose 0.4 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, 4 of 6 grocery indexes increased, including the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index (+2.6 percent) and the fruits and vegetables index (+2.5 percent).

Food prices rose 2.5 percent over the year, as prices for food away from home advanced 3.2 percent. The food at home index increased 1.9 percent, as half of the sub-indexes rose. Prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs were up 9.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 0.1 percent over the two-month pricing period. The gasoline index decreased 2.9 percent.

The energy index decreased 2.4 percent from March 2024 to March 2025. Over the same period, the gasoline index declined 11.4 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.8 percent during the two-month period. The index for shelter increased, up 0.8 percent over the bi-monthly period. Within shelter, the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences rose 0.4 percent. Other index increases included apparel (+7.4 percent) and education and communication (+1.3 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.7 percent over the year. The shelter index (+3.6 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, as the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (+3.5 percent) and rent of primary residence (+3.7 percent) rose. Other index increases included recreation (+7.7 percent) and education and communication (+3.1 percent).

The May 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 11, 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 March 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Expenditure category

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

All items

 318.175 - 320.604 2.4 0.8 -

All items (1967=100)

 939.340 - 946.511 - - -

Food and beverages

 312.141 - 314.261 2.6 0.7 -

Food

 321.023 - 323.351 2.5 0.7 -

Food at home

 296.666 296.942 297.714 1.9 0.4 0.3

Cereals and bakery products

 421.069 419.641 423.337 7.9 0.5 0.9

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

 328.729 335.027 337.185 9.4 2.6 0.6

Dairy and related products

 291.136 288.427 296.100 4.8 1.7 2.7

Fruits and vegetables

 285.837 292.480 292.854 -3.1 2.5 0.1

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

 265.239 265.180 264.441 -0.2 -0.3 -0.3

Other food at home

 246.373 241.109 238.780 -2.9 -3.1 -1.0

Food away from home

 354.984 - 359.019 3.2 1.1 -

Alcoholic beverages

 228.841 - 228.984 4.2 0.1 -

Housing

 335.690 - 338.529 3.3 0.8 -

Shelter

 401.862 402.296 405.103 3.6 0.8 0.7

Rent of primary residence

 431.781 433.596 434.586 3.7 0.6 0.2

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

 413.931 415.478 415.689 3.5 0.4 0.1

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

 413.931 415.478 415.689 3.5 0.4 0.1

Household furnishings and operations

 130.873 - 131.519 -1.2 0.5 -

Apparel

 152.865 - 164.135 -0.6 7.4 -

Transportation

 270.710 - 268.864 -1.1 -0.7 -

Private transportation

 283.871 - 282.907 0.1 -0.3 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

 127.260 - 127.345 0.3 0.1 -

New vehicles(1)

 227.661 - 227.831 -0.3 0.1 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

 398.925 - 399.004 1.1 0.0 -

Motor fuel

 298.685 297.697 290.267 -11.4 -2.8 -2.5

Gasoline (all types)

 294.420 293.331 285.990 -11.4 -2.9 -2.5

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

 286.158 284.945 277.522 -12.0 -3.0 -2.6

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

 310.001 309.317 302.960 -9.0 -2.3 -2.1

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

 326.291 326.132 319.911 -8.3 -2.0 -1.9

Medical care

 533.808 - 532.938 0.2 -0.2 -

Recreation(3)

 139.163 - 139.283 7.7 0.1 -

Education and communication(3)

 169.067 - 171.281 3.1 1.3 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

 1,712.541 - 1,740.485 3.1 1.6 -

Other goods and services

 528.518 - 534.419 1.1 1.1 -

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

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

All items

 318.175 - 320.604 2.4 0.8 -

Food

 321.023 - 323.351 2.5 0.7 -

Energy

 270.217 271.088 270.040 -2.4 -0.1 -0.4

All items less food and energy

 328.373 - 331.044 2.7 0.8 -

All items less energy

 326.180 - 328.792 2.7 0.8 -

All items less medical care

 308.093 - 310.693 2.6 0.8 -

All items less shelter

 283.462 - 285.562 1.7 0.7 -

Commodities

 212.511 - 214.518 0.1 0.9 -

Commodities less food

 167.311 - 169.122 -1.3 1.1 -

Commodities less food & beverages

 164.690 - 166.554 -1.6 1.1 -

Durables

 117.611 - 117.833 -0.6 0.2 -

Nondurables

 262.119 - 265.395 0.4 1.2 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

 214.651 - 219.038 -2.6 2.0 -

Nondurables less food

 215.419 - 219.448 -1.9 1.9 -

Services

 413.646 - 416.399 3.6 0.7 -

Services less rent of shelter(1)

 439.810 - 442.489 3.7 0.6 -

Services less medical care services

 401.025 - 404.081 4.0 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.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, April 10, 2025