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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Geographic Information > Northeast > News Release
News Release Information

25-973-BOS
Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (646) 264-3600

Consumer Price Index, Boston-Cambridge-Newton — May 2025

Area prices were up 1.1 percent over the past two months, 3.0 percent from a year ago

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Boston area advanced 1.1 percent for the two months ending in May 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that prices for all items less food and energy increased 1.3 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The Boston area all items CPI-U advanced 3.0 percent for the 12 months ending in May. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent, and the food index increased 3.5 percent. In contrast, the energy index declined 1.8 percent over the same period.

  Line chart of 12-month percent changes in the Consumer Price Index CPI-U for all items and all items less food and energy for Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, May 2022 to May 2025, not seasonally adjusted. Accessible version is available in View Chart Data link below the chart.
View Chart Data
Food

Food prices rose 0.8 percent for the two months ending in May. The food away from home index (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 1.0 percent. The index for food at home (grocery store purchases) rose 0.7 percent, with higher prices in 4 of the 6 major grocery store food groups.

Food prices rose 3.5 percent over the year. Prices for food away from home advanced 6.2 percent, and prices for food at home rose 1.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index ticked up 0.1 percent over the two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices inched up 0.1 percent.

The energy index decreased 1.8 percent from May 2024 to May 2025. Over the year, gasoline prices fell 16.0 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.3 percent during the two-month period. The index for shelter advanced 2.4 percent. Within shelter, prices increased for lodging away from home, as well as for owners’ equivalent rent (+0.7 percent) and for rent of primary residence (+0.7 percent). Other expenditures with higher prices included household furnishings and operations (+2.1 percent) and motor vehicle insurance. In contrast, the index for recreation declined 1.8 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent over the year. Prices for shelter rose 4.9 percent, with higher prices for owners’ equivalent rent (+4.5 percent) and rent of primary residence (+4.7 percent). A 2.7-percent increase in prices for education and communication included a 4.8-percent rise in tuition, other school fees, and childcare. The index for new and used motor vehicles, a category that includes leased cars and trucks, rose 2.9 percent.

The Consumer Price Index for July 2025 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 Boston 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.

The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Core Based Statistical Area includes Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts and Rockingham and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire.

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. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, 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

 343.972 - 347.897 3.0 1.1 -

All items (1967=100)

 999.764 - 1,011.171 - - -

Food and beverages

 353.157 - 355.564 3.5 0.7 -

Food

 357.557 - 360.553 3.5 0.8 -

Food at home

 313.993 314.037 316.254 1.4 0.7 0.7

Cereals and bakery products

 388.118 385.592 386.247 -1.6 -0.5 0.2

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

 348.746 341.487 345.884 6.9 -0.8 1.3

Dairy and related products

 364.085 361.982 366.648 3.2 0.7 1.3

Fruits and vegetables

 361.699 353.262 370.991 -0.3 2.6 5.0

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

 206.189 216.843 208.500 2.7 1.1 -3.8

Other food at home

 243.904 247.107 246.797 -0.5 1.2 -0.1

Food away from home

 436.344 - 440.614 6.2 1.0 -

Alcoholic beverages

 309.947 - 304.951 3.5 -1.6 -

Housing

 377.019 - 385.409 4.9 2.2 -

Shelter

 447.566 455.081 458.520 4.9 2.4 0.8

Rent of primary residence

 468.119 469.733 471.244 4.7 0.7 0.3

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

 479.347 480.378 482.652 4.5 0.7 0.5

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

 479.347 480.378 482.652 4.5 0.7 0.5

Household furnishings and operations

 143.626 - 146.674 0.0 2.1 -

Apparel

 143.418 - 141.501 3.3 -1.3 -

Transportation

 235.305 - 236.659 -2.0 0.6 -

Private transportation

 244.545 - 246.680 -1.2 0.9 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

 141.322 - 142.079 2.9 0.5 -

New vehicles(1)

 240.186 - 241.329 0.2 0.5 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

 424.099 - 430.468 1.5 1.5 -

Motor fuel

 264.481 262.111 264.686 -15.9 0.1 1.0

Gasoline (all types)

 261.908 259.559 262.112 -16.0 0.1 1.0

Unleaded regular(4)

 249.960 247.674 250.211 -16.8 0.1 1.0

Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

 302.120 299.504 302.050 -12.9 0.0 0.9

Unleaded premium(4)

 303.306 300.862 303.210 -11.9 0.0 0.8

Medical care

 765.023 - 766.193 1.2 0.2 -

Recreation(3)

 118.385 - 116.213 -0.5 -1.8 -

Education and communication(3)

 180.396 - 180.887 2.7 0.3 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

 1,589.441 - 1,589.441 4.8 0.0 -

Other goods and services

 668.975 - 672.799 4.4 0.6 -

Footnotes
(1) Index is on a January 1978=100 base.
(2) Index is 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. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, 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

 343.972 - 347.897 3.0 1.1 -

Food

 357.557 - 360.553 3.5 0.8 -

Energy

 311.521 298.019 311.705 -1.8 0.1 4.6

All items less food and energy

 352.331 - 356.762 3.2 1.3 -

All items less energy

 351.689 - 355.897 3.3 1.2 -

All items less medical care

 327.898 - 331.885 3.1 1.2 -

All items less shelter

 304.334 - 305.220 1.8 0.3 -

Commodities

 229.586 - 230.559 0.5 0.4 -

Commodities less food

 174.849 - 175.010 -1.6 0.1 -

Commodities less food & beverages

 169.467 - 169.790 -1.9 0.2 -

Durables

 118.579 - 119.375 -1.4 0.7 -

Nondurables

 288.065 - 289.081 1.1 0.4 -

Nondurables less food

 230.891 - 230.209 -1.9 -0.3 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

 225.734 - 225.365 -2.5 -0.2 -

Services

 447.271 - 453.821 4.2 1.5 -

Services less rent of shelter(1)

 461.628 - 462.322 3.2 0.2 -

Services less medical care services

 424.233 - 430.932 4.5 1.6 -

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