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

25-1008-PHI
Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

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

Area prices were up 0.3 percent over the two months, up 1.9 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area advanced 0.3 percent for the two months ending in May 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 0.2 percent. The energy index rose 1.6 percent and prices for food advanced 0.5 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 1.9 percent for the 12 months ending in May. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.1 percent over the year. Food prices rose 2.6 percent while energy prices decreased 2.7 percent.

Food

Food prices advanced 0.5 percent for the two months ending in May.  Prices for food away from home increased 0.2 percent while prices for food at home rose 0.7 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, the other food at home index was up 5.1 percent, after a four bi-month period of declines.


Food prices rose 2.6 percent over the year, as prices for food away from home advanced 3.4 percent. The food at home index increased 1.9 percent, as most of the sub-indexes rose. Prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs were up 7.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index was up 1.6 percent over the two-month pricing period. The gasoline index increased 1.5 percent.

The energy index decreased, down 2.7 percent from May 2024 to May 2025. Over the same period, the gasoline index declined 13.4 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.2 percent during the two-month period. The indexes for recreation and for shelter increased, up 2.7 and 0.2 percent respectively, over the bi-monthly period. Within shelter, the index for owners’ equivalent rent of residences rose 0.4 percent. Other index increases included new and used motor vehicles (+0.6 percent) and medical care (+0.3 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for apparel (-5.0 percent) and education and communication (-0.4 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.1 percent over the year. The shelter index (+3.3 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, as rent of primary residence (+3.7 percent) and the owners’ equivalent rent of residences index (+3.3 percent) rose. Other index increases included recreation (+5.9 percent) and household furnishings and operations (+2.9 percent).

The July 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, August 12, 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 May 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Expenditure category

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

All items

 320.604 - 321.560 1.9 0.3 -

All items (1967=100)

 946.511 - 949.334 - - -

Food and beverages

 314.261 - 315.371 2.5 0.4 -

Food

 323.351 - 324.837 2.6 0.5 -

Food at home

 297.714 298.885 299.764 1.9 0.7 0.3

Cereals and bakery products

 423.337 423.406 409.416 0.6 -3.3 -3.3

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

 337.185 332.418 335.221 7.3 -0.6 0.8

Dairy and related products

 296.100 293.932 286.273 2.5 -3.3 -2.6

Fruits and vegetables

 292.854 284.951 293.910 -0.4 0.4 3.1

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

 264.441 272.510 269.570 0.7 1.9 -1.1

Other food at home

 238.780 247.519 251.075 0.9 5.1 1.4

Food away from home

 359.019 - 359.766 3.4 0.2 -

Alcoholic beverages

 228.984 - 226.474 1.6 -1.1 -

Housing

 338.529 - 339.439 3.5 0.3 -

Shelter

 405.103 404.785 406.088 3.3 0.2 0.3

Rent of primary residence

 434.586 435.218 437.091 3.7 0.6 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

 415.689 415.729 417.485 3.3 0.4 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

 415.689 415.729 417.485 3.3 0.4 0.4

Household furnishings and operations

 131.519 - 131.275 2.9 -0.2 -

Apparel

 164.135 - 155.946 -3.9 -5.0 -

Transportation

 268.864 - 271.708 -2.7 1.1 -

Private transportation

 282.907 - 284.747 -1.9 0.7 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

 127.345 - 128.132 0.8 0.6 -

New vehicles(1)

 227.831 - 228.502 0.2 0.3 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

 399.004 - 403.250 2.2 1.1 -

Motor fuel

 290.267 299.446 294.545 -13.4 1.5 -1.6

Gasoline (all types)

 285.990 295.109 290.308 -13.4 1.5 -1.6

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

 277.522 286.919 281.914 -13.9 1.6 -1.7

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

 302.960 310.083 306.595 -11.3 1.2 -1.1

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

 319.911 326.473 323.390 -10.6 1.1 -0.9

Medical care

 532.938 - 534.633 0.1 0.3 -

Recreation(3)

 139.283 - 143.030 5.9 2.7 -

Education and communication(3)

 171.281 - 170.567 1.2 -0.4 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

 1,740.485 - 1,740.550 3.1 0.0 -

Other goods and services

 534.419 - 537.674 3.1 0.6 -

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

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

All items

 320.604 - 321.560 1.9 0.3 -

Food

 323.351 - 324.837 2.6 0.5 -

Energy

 270.040 274.139 274.317 -2.7 1.6 0.1

All items less food and energy

 331.044 - 331.722 2.1 0.2 -

All items less energy

 328.792 - 329.584 2.2 0.2 -

All items less medical care

 310.693 - 311.614 2.0 0.3 -

All items less shelter

 285.562 - 286.497 1.0 0.3 -

Commodities

 214.518 - 214.289 -0.3 -0.1 -

Commodities less food

 169.122 - 168.342 -2.0 -0.5 -

Commodities less food & beverages

 166.554 - 165.836 -2.2 -0.4 -

Durables

 117.833 - 117.460 -0.7 -0.3 -

Nondurables

 265.395 - 265.335 -0.2 0.0 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

 219.038 - 217.857 -3.7 -0.5 -

Nondurables less food

 219.448 - 218.160 -3.2 -0.6 -

Services

 416.399 - 418.556 3.1 0.5 -

Services less rent of shelter(1)

 442.489 - 446.685 2.9 0.9 -

Services less medical care services

 404.081 - 406.487 3.3 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: Wednesday, June 11, 2025