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.

  

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Mar 2025	2.5	2.9
May 2025	3.0	3.2

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.

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.

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).

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.