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Wednesday, June 11, 2025
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.
FoodFood 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.
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 energyThe 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.
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.
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.
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 | |
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 |
|||||||
- Data not available. |
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 | - | |
- Data not available. |
Last Modified Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2025