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News Release Information

25-192-CHI
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Consumer Price Index, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area – January 2025

Area prices were up 1.2 percent over the past month, up 4.3 percent from a year ago

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area advanced 1.2 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that energy prices rose 2.4 percent while food prices were 1.1 percent higher in January. The all items less food and energy index was up 1.1 percent over the month. Within the all items less food and energy category, prices were higher for shelter, apparel, and recreation. (See table 1 and table 2.) (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area all items CPI-U advanced 4.3 percent for the 12 months ending in January. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.8 percent over the year. Food prices rose 1.7 percent. Energy prices increased 2.7 percent.


Food

Food prices advanced 1.1 percent for the month of January. Prices for food at home (groceries) advanced 1.8 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were unchanged for the same period. Within the food at home group, categories experiencing increases included spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces; carbonated drinks; and eggs.

Food prices rose 1.7 percent over the year. The food at home index rose 1.2 percent as three of the six major grocery store food group indexes advanced over the year. Increasing indexes included nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+5.1 percent); meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+2.1 percent); and dairy and related products (+3.4 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 2.6 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 2.4 percent over the month and was up 2.7 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.1 percent in January. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for shelter (+0.7 percent) and apparel (+5.0 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.8 percent over the year. Categories increasing over the year included shelter (+6.1 percent) and medical care (+3.9 percent).

The February 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area is scheduled to be released on March 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 Chicago is published 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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Core Based Statistical Area includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

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. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, 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

294.542 294.757 298.213 4.3 1.2 1.2

All items (1967=100)

879.970 880.612 890.936 - - -

Food and beverages

325.673 323.117 326.737 1.7 0.3 1.1

Food

326.037 323.521 327.091 1.7 0.3 1.1

Food at home

301.782 298.089 303.419 1.2 0.5 1.8

Cereals and bakery products

338.165 340.052 337.898 -0.1 -0.1 -0.6

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

323.697 316.802 325.509 2.1 0.6 2.7

Dairy and related products

269.487 264.291 270.726 3.4 0.5 2.4

Fruits and vegetables

358.858 362.401 361.892 -0.5 0.8 -0.1

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

264.984 260.605 272.688 5.1 2.9 4.6

Other food at home

249.374 243.475 248.974 -0.2 -0.2 2.3

Food away from home

351.685 351.389 351.352 2.6 -0.1 0.0

Alcoholic beverages

319.334 316.265 320.845 1.8 0.5 1.4

Housing

314.819 316.611 320.229 5.2 1.7 1.1

Shelter

405.476 407.583 410.474 6.1 1.2 0.7

Rent of primary residence

433.196 434.614 436.540 5.0 0.8 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

420.176 422.415 424.840 6.1 1.1 0.6

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

420.176 422.415 424.840 6.1 1.1 0.6

Household furnishings and operations

102.611 103.251 105.608 0.5 2.9 2.3

Apparel

89.170 90.705 95.272 4.8 6.8 5.0

Transportation

243.384 241.053 244.749 6.3 0.6 1.5

Private transportation

245.407 244.783 246.859 6.5 0.6 0.8

New and used motor vehicles(3)

117.424 116.834 117.699 2.5 0.2 0.7

New vehicles(1)

213.517 213.165 213.847 -0.9 0.2 0.3

Used cars and trucks(1)

350.973 352.019 353.121 1.7 0.6 0.3

Motor fuel

287.120 288.419 288.933 3.1 0.6 0.2

Gasoline (all types)

285.248 286.604 287.127 3.4 0.7 0.2

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

273.702 275.037 275.618 3.3 0.7 0.2

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

328.984 329.983 329.641 4.3 0.2 -0.1

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

325.049 326.302 326.128 4.3 0.3 -0.1

Medical care

570.463 571.876 573.568 3.9 0.5 0.3

Recreation(3)

135.233 135.545 137.148 1.0 1.4 1.2

Education and communication(3)

143.982 143.698 144.350 2.1 0.3 0.5

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

1,334.699 1,334.699 1,333.955 4.7 -0.1 -0.1

Other goods and services

511.684 508.644 511.853 6.7 0.0 0.6

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
(2) Indexes on a December 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. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, 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

294.542 294.757 298.213 4.3 1.2 1.2

Food

326.037 323.521 327.091 1.7 0.3 1.1

Energy

230.083 232.080 237.722 2.7 3.3 2.4

All items less food and energy

299.485 299.960 303.262 4.8 1.3 1.1

All items less energy

302.818 302.886 306.221 4.4 1.1 1.1

All items less medical care

282.940 283.099 286.694 4.3 1.3 1.3

All items less shelter

256.860 256.405 260.005 3.2 1.2 1.4

Commodities

199.311 198.487 201.217 0.9 1.0 1.4

Commodities less food

146.550 146.322 148.603 0.3 1.4 1.6

Commodities less food & beverages

140.737 140.581 142.779 0.2 1.5 1.6

Durables

92.881 92.334 93.322 -3.0 0.5 1.1

Nondurables

258.239 257.275 261.085 1.9 1.1 1.5

Nondurables less food

200.771 200.878 204.743 2.1 2.0 1.9

Nondurables less food & beverages

192.849 193.116 196.890 2.1 2.1 2.0

Services

384.910 386.109 390.212 6.0 1.4 1.1

Services less rent of shelter(1)

381.857 382.168 387.595 5.8 1.5 1.4

Services less medical care services

369.625 370.743 374.995 6.1 1.5 1.1

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 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