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

25-833-PHI
Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Consumer Price Index, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson – April 2025

Area prices were up 0.9 percent over the past two months, up 3.0 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson was up 0.9 percent for the two months ending in April 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that all items less food and energy index advanced 1.0 percent, as the indexes for medical care and shelter rose. The food index and energy index also saw increases. (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 advanced 3.0 percent for the 12 months ending in April. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.6 percent, and the food index increased 3.4 percent. The energy index was down 3.6 percent over the same period.

Food

The food index increased 0.6 percent from February to April. The index for food away from home advanced 2.5 percent. In comparison, the food at home index declined 0.6 percent, with lower prices in 4 of the 6 major grocery categories. Within food at home, prices for cereals and bakery products decreased 3.1 percent, and other food at home was down 1.0 percent. Whereas nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials recorded higher prices at 3.0 percent.

The food index rose 3.4 percent over the year. Prices for the food away from home index increased 5.3 percent and the food at home index advanced 2.3 percent. Three of the six major food sub-indexes were up over the year, as seen in meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+9.0 percent); and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+9.6 percent).

Energy

The energy index advanced 0.5 percent over the two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices increased 2.3 percent.

The energy index decreased 3.6 percent from April 2024 to April 2025, after a 1.7-percent rise in February. Over the year, the gasoline index decreased 13.6 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.0 percent from February to April. The medical care index rose 7.1 percent, the largest increase since the 7.6-percent rise in August 2019. The index for shelter was up 0.5 percent over the bi-monthly period, as the index for owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence rose 1.0 percent. The new and used motor vehicles index advanced 1.0 percent, as prices for new vehicles rose 0.5 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.6 percent over the year. The shelter index (+4.2 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, due in part to the increase in the owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+4.4 percent) index. Prices for medical care were up 8.6 percent— due to higher prices for medical care services, while recreation prices increased 6.5 percent. In contrast, the apparel index decreased, down 6.4 percent for the same period.

The Consumer Price Index for June 2025 for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson 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 Baltimore 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 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.

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. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, 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

 321.541 - 324.513 3.0 0.9 -

All items (1967=100)

 961.702 - 970.591 - - -

Food and beverages

 343.028 - 344.783 3.1 0.5 -

Food

 343.981 - 345.905 3.4 0.6 -

Food at home

 303.673 301.712 301.911 2.3 -0.6 0.1

Cereals and bakery products

 373.399 367.337 361.934 1.6 -3.1 -1.5

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

 334.779 333.696 332.253 9.0 -0.8 -0.4

Dairy and related products

 266.218 265.497 270.281 -0.7 1.5 1.8

Fruits and vegetables

 323.596 326.419 318.799 -2.8 -1.5 -2.3

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

 236.316 237.796 243.423 9.6 3.0 2.4

Other food at home

 272.790 267.350 270.010 -2.0 -1.0 1.0

Food away from home

 399.703 - 409.547 5.3 2.5 -

Alcoholic beverages

 327.212 - 327.036 -0.1 -0.1 -

Housing

 326.506 - 328.581 4.2 0.6 -

Shelter

 384.148 386.253 386.182 4.2 0.5 0.0

Rent of primary residence

 444.057 445.358 444.577 3.9 0.1 -0.2

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

 402.608 406.370 406.671 4.4 1.0 0.1

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

 402.608 406.370 406.671 4.4 1.0 0.1

Household furnishings and operations

 133.701 - 135.963 0.4 1.7 -

Apparel

 122.435 - 122.352 -6.4 -0.1 -

Transportation

 284.504 - 286.717 -0.7 0.8 -

Private transportation

 291.231 - 293.046 -0.4 0.6 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

 135.299 - 136.612 0.7 1.0 -

New vehicles(1)

 277.917 - 279.225 0.9 0.5 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

 321.975 - 323.345 1.7 0.4 -

Motor fuel

 272.362 263.793 278.501 -13.5 2.3 5.6

Gasoline (all types)

 266.051 257.672 272.086 -13.6 2.3 5.6

Unleaded regular(4)

 267.860 258.683 274.095 -14.0 2.3 6.0

Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

 293.975 288.133 299.446 -11.4 1.9 3.9

Unleaded premium(4)

 282.706 278.383 288.198 -10.7 1.9 3.5

Medical care

 513.385 - 549.828 8.6 7.1 -

Recreation(3)

 154.925 - 155.286 6.5 0.2 -

Education and communication(3)

 163.078 - 161.797 -1.3 -0.8 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

 1,432.433 - 1,432.433 3.5 0.0 -

Other goods and services

 569.646 - 566.560 3.7 -0.5 -

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 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

 321.541 - 324.513 3.0 0.9 -

Food

 343.981 - 345.905 3.4 0.6 -

Energy

 299.502 290.223 300.971 -3.6 0.5 3.7

All items less food and energy

 322.740 - 325.989 3.6 1.0 -

All items less energy

 325.455 - 328.554 3.6 1.0 -

All items less medical care

 311.989 - 313.409 2.6 0.5 -

All items less shelter

 298.333 - 301.766 2.4 1.2 -

Commodities

 230.862 - 231.353 -1.1 0.2 -

Commodities less food

 186.056 - 186.098 -3.7 0.0 -

Commodities less food & beverages

 181.668 - 181.717 -3.9 0.0 -

Durables

 130.393 - 130.452 -2.1 0.0 -

Nondurables

 281.021 - 281.850 -0.5 0.3 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

 228.270 - 228.281 -4.8 0.0 -

Nondurables less food

 233.546 - 233.544 -4.5 0.0 -

Services

 410.468 - 415.672 5.4 1.3 -

Services less rent of shelter(1)

 455.305 - 464.935 6.9 2.1 -

Services less medical care services

 400.640 - 402.910 5.0 0.6 -

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: Tuesday, May 13, 2025