The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Boston area advanced 1.5 percent for the two months ending in January 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that prices for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

The Boston area all items CPI-U advanced 3.9 percent for the 12 months ending in January. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.4 percent over the year. Food prices rose 1.3 percent, and energy prices increased 2.3 percent.

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, January 2022–January 2025

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jan 2022	6.3	4.7
Mar 2022	7.3	5.2
May 2022	7.5	4.9
Jul 2022	7.0	3.9
Sep 2022	8.1	5.9
Nov 2022	7.0	4.7
Jan 2023	6.4	4.6
Mar 2023	4.7	4.1
May 2023	3.6	4.3
Jul 2023	2.8	4.0
Sep 2023	2.6	3.0
Nov 2023	2.4	3.4
Jan 2024	2.0	3.0
Mar 2024	3.3	4.4
May 2024	4.0	4.5
Jul 2024	3.5	3.7
Sep 2024	3.4	4.2
Nov 2024	3.1	3.7
Jan 2025	3.9	4.4

Food prices rose 0.7 percent for the two months ending in January. Prices for food away from home advanced 1.4 percent, and prices for food at home ticked up 0.1 percent over the same period. Grocery items with price increases over the two-month period included carbonated drinks, snacks, and ice cream and related products.

Food prices rose 1.3 percent over the year, with prices for food away from home advancing 3.9 percent. In contrast, prices for food at home declined 0.6 percent.

The energy index increased 1.5 percent for the two months ending in January. Gasoline prices edged down 0.2 percent.

Energy prices increased 2.3 percent over the year. Gasoline prices decreased 4.6 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.6 percent during the two-month period. A 1.9-percent advance in shelter prices included higher prices for lodging away from home. New and used motor vehicles, a category that includes leased cars and trucks and car and truck rental, rose 3.9 percent. Other expenditures with higher prices from November to January included apparel (+4.3 percent) and airline fares.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.4 percent over the year. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (+5.9 percent), medical care (+5.5 percent), and new and used motor vehicles (+5.9 percent). Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent increased 5.4 percent, and rent of primary residence rose 5.7 percent.

The Consumer Price Index for March 2025 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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.

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 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 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		338.512	-	343.486	3.9	1.5	-
All items (1967=100)		983.894	-	998.351	-	-	-
Food and beverages		349.006	-	351.757	1.3	0.8	-
Food		353.910	-	356.345	1.3	0.7	-
Food at home		316.667	313.508	317.027	-0.6	0.1	1.1
Cereals and bakery products		384.518	387.605	388.503	0.2	1.0	0.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		341.811	332.574	339.458	4.2	-0.7	2.1
Dairy and related products		362.157	350.457	359.611	-2.2	-0.7	2.6
Fruits and vegetables		389.711	383.418	384.599	-2.7	-1.3	0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		208.416	200.953	209.217	-0.8	0.4	4.1
Other food at home		242.535	246.878	247.005	-1.4	1.8	0.1
Food away from home		422.001	-	428.075	3.9	1.4	-
Alcoholic beverages		299.650	-	306.114	2.1	2.2	-
Housing		370.972	-	377.581	5.2	1.8	-
Shelter		437.445	439.323	445.645	5.9	1.9	1.4
Rent of primary residence		462.584	465.361	466.464	5.7	0.8	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		472.757	475.708	476.750	5.4	0.8	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		472.757	475.708	476.750	5.4	0.8	0.2
Household furnishings and operations		146.271	-	147.125	-2.7	0.6	-
Apparel		135.260	-	141.040	1.3	4.3	-
Transportation		231.265	-	237.571	3.8	2.7	-
Private transportation		241.286	-	247.588	3.8	2.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		139.178	-	144.621	5.9	3.9	-
New vehicles(1)		239.799	-	240.065	-0.6	0.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		418.281	-	420.920	-0.6	0.6	-
Motor fuel		269.335	268.489	268.837	-4.6	-0.2	0.1
Gasoline (all types)		266.737	265.885	266.228	-4.6	-0.2	0.1
Unleaded regular(4)		254.885	254.005	254.371	-4.8	-0.2	0.1
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		306.247	305.736	305.743	-3.8	-0.2	0.0
Unleaded premium(4)		306.985	306.391	306.571	-3.4	-0.1	0.1
Medical care		758.008	-	761.429	5.5	0.5	-
Recreation(3)		116.547	-	117.276	2.1	0.6	-
Education and communication(3)		178.050	-	178.915	2.2	0.5	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,557.714	-	1,557.714	2.9	0.0	-
Other goods and services		659.799	-	647.551	1.1	-1.9	-
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 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		338.512	-	343.486	3.9	1.5	-
Food		353.910	-	356.345	1.3	0.7	-
Energy		318.761	318.070	323.392	2.3	1.5	1.7
All items less food and energy		345.572	-	351.115	4.4	1.6	-
All items less energy		345.392	-	350.478	4.0	1.5	-
All items less medical care		322.527	-	327.516	3.7	1.5	-
All items less shelter		300.852	-	304.474	2.5	1.2	-
Commodities		227.605	-	230.005	0.1	1.1	-
Commodities less food		173.608	-	175.898	-0.7	1.3	-
Commodities less food & beverages		168.520	-	170.664	-0.9	1.3	-
Durables		119.380	-	120.161	-2.2	0.7	-
Nondurables		284.384	-	287.640	0.9	1.1	-
Nondurables less food		227.169	-	231.143	0.4	1.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		222.491	-	226.285	0.2	1.7	-
Services		438.686	-	445.986	5.7	1.7	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		455.014	-	461.555	5.5	1.4	-
Services less medical care services		415.613	-	423.170	5.8	1.8	-
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.