The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Boston-Cambridge-Newton was up 0.1 percent from November to January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Michael G. Phinney noted that the index for all items less food and energy was the largest contributor to the increase. (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 1.4 percent for the 12 months ending in January. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.5 percent, and the food index also increased 1.5 percent. In contrast, the energy index declined 0.5 percent over the same period.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, January 2023–January 2026

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jul 2025	3.2	3.5
Sep 2025	3.3	3.3
Nov 2025	2.8	3.0
Jan 2026	1.4	1.5

The food index was little changed from November to January, up 0.1 percent. The food away from home index (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 1.3 percent. The index for food at home (grocery store purchases) decreased 0.7 percent, with lower prices in 4 of the 6 major grocery store food groups.

The food index rose 1.5 percent over the year. The food away from home index increased 5.1 percent. In comparison, the food at home index declined 1.2 percent. Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes declined over the year, including meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-3.1 percent).

The energy index increased 0.2 percent over the two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices declined 2.5 percent.

The energy index decreased 0.5 percent from January 2025 to January 2026. Over the year, the gasoline index declined 2.5 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy ticked up 0.1 percent from November to January, reflecting higher prices for recreation (+2.6 percent), apparel (+3.4 percent), education and communication (+0.8 percent) and airline fares. In contrast, the index for medical care declined 1.4 percent. Within new and used motor vehicles (-1.1 percent), prices for used cars and trucks decreased 4.9 percent. Within shelter (-0.1 percent), prices for lodging away from home fell, while prices rose for owners’ equivalent rent (+0.5 percent) and for rent of primary residence (+0.7 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.5 percent over the year. The shelter index (+2.0 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, due in part to increases in owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+4.1 percent) and rent of primary residence (+3.6 percent). Other categories with increases included tuition, other school fees, and childcare, which advanced 6.7 percent, the largest over-the-year increase recorded since the series start in 2018.

The Consumer Price Index for February 2026 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 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.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Table 1. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, CPI-U by expenditure category for January 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025	Jan. 2026	Jan. 2025	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025
All items		347.892	-	348.343	1.4	0.1	-
All items (1967=100)		1,011.157	-	1,012.467	-	-	-
Food and beverages		356.608	-	357.355	1.6	0.2	-
Food		361.306	-	361.694	1.5	0.1	-
Food at home		315.369	315.122	313.195	-1.2	-0.7	-0.6
Cereals and bakery products		383.673	381.358	378.694	-2.5	-1.3	-0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		334.630	337.966	328.894	-3.1	-1.7	-2.7
Dairy and related products		349.596	353.053	356.836	-0.8	2.1	1.1
Fruits and vegetables		364.069	371.402	379.648	-1.3	4.3	2.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		227.299	222.467	224.123	7.1	-1.4	0.7
Other food at home		248.149	245.457	242.520	-1.8	-2.3	-1.2
Food away from home		444.093	-	450.082	5.1	1.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		309.734	-	313.699	2.5	1.3	-
Housing		384.811	-	384.671	1.9	0.0	-
Shelter		455.109	454.161	454.572	2.0	-0.1	0.1
Rent of primary residence		480.236	481.998	483.368	3.6	0.7	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		493.672	495.537	496.263	4.1	0.5	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		493.672	495.537	496.263	4.1	0.5	0.1
Household furnishings and operations		149.907	-	149.111	1.3	-0.5	-
Apparel		124.674	-	128.934	-8.6	3.4	-
Transportation		237.665	-	237.971	0.2	0.1	-
Private transportation		247.725	-	246.133	-0.6	-0.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		141.060	-	139.484	-3.6	-1.1	-
New vehicles(1)		240.780	-	240.448	0.2	-0.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		433.253	-	411.932	-2.1	-4.9	-
Motor fuel		268.902	267.001	262.138	-2.5	-2.5	-1.8
Gasoline (all types)		266.286	264.402	259.582	-2.5	-2.5	-1.8
Unleaded regular(4)		254.092	252.101	247.246	-2.8	-2.7	-1.9
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		308.328	307.187	302.867	-0.9	-1.8	-1.4
Unleaded premium(4)		308.580	307.563	303.545	-1.0	-1.6	-1.3
Medical care		762.945	-	752.354	-1.2	-1.4	-
Recreation(3)		118.545	-	121.580	3.7	2.6	-
Education and communication(3)		183.374	-	184.798	3.3	0.8	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,654.043	-	1,662.595	6.7	0.5	-
Other goods and services		699.606	-	687.612	6.2	-1.7	-
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.

Table 2. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, CPI-U by special aggregate index for January 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025	Jan. 2026	Jan. 2025	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025
All items		347.892	-	348.343	1.4	0.1	-
Food		361.306	-	361.694	1.5	0.1	-
Energy		321.014	325.748	321.742	-0.5	0.2	-1.2
All items less food and energy		355.997	-	356.474	1.5	0.1	-
All items less energy		355.353	-	355.821	1.5	0.1	-
All items less medical care		331.985	-	332.819	1.6	0.3	-
All items less shelter		306.722	-	307.614	1.0	0.3	-
Commodities		228.771	-	228.885	-0.5	0.0	-
Commodities less food		172.263	-	172.226	-2.1	0.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		166.823	-	166.648	-2.4	-0.1	-
Durables		118.224	-	117.946	-1.8	-0.2	-
Nondurables		286.997	-	287.417	-0.1	0.1	-
Nondurables less food		225.655	-	226.024	-2.2	0.2	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		220.117	-	220.184	-2.7	0.0	-
Services		455.383	-	456.113	2.3	0.2	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		471.088	-	473.612	2.6	0.5	-
Services less medical care services		432.500	-	433.738	2.5	0.3	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base.
- Data not available.