The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Boston area increased 0.8 percent for the two months ending in September 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that the indexes for all items less food and energy (+0.6 percent), energy (+4.9 percent), and food (+0.1 percent) rose over the bi-monthly period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

The Boston area all items CPI-U increased 3.8 percent for the 12 months ending in September. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.8 percent over the year. Energy prices were up 21.7 percent, and food prices rose 2.7 percent.

Food

Food prices rose 0.1 percent for the two months ending in September. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 0.9 percent. In contrast, prices for food at home (grocery store purchases) declined 0.4 percent.

Food prices increased 2.7 percent over the year. Prices for food at home rose 3.2 percent, with higher prices in all six major grocery store food groups. Prices for food away from home increased 2.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 4.9 percent over the two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices were up 7.5 percent.

The energy index increased 21.7 percent from September 2025 to September 2026. Over the year, the gasoline index rose 38.3 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent from July to September. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for apparel (+11.0 percent), owners’ equivalent rent (+0.7 percent), education and communication (+2.1 percent), and household furnishings and operations (+3.9 percent).

The all items less food and energy index increased 2.8 percent over the year. A 4.0-percent rise in shelter prices included increases in owners’ equivalent rent (+4.4 percent) and rent of primary residence (+4.3 percent). Prices also rose for education and communication (+5.2 percent) as the index for tuition, other school fees, and childcare increased 4.3 percent.

The November 2026 Consumer Price Index for the Boston area is scheduled to be released on Thursday, December 10, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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.

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

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Jul. 2026	Aug. 2026	Sep. 2026	Sep. 2025	Jul. 2026	Aug. 2026
All items		359.707	-	362.575	3.8	0.8	-
All items (1967=100)		1,045.500	-	1,053.836	-	-	-
Food and beverages		365.929	-	366.703	2.5	0.2	-
Food		371.836	-	372.377	2.7	0.1	-
Food at home		325.514	321.674	324.360	3.2	-0.4	0.8
Cereals and bakery products		384.620	377.901	382.164	1.7	-0.6	1.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		346.012	349.085	348.554	3.4	0.7	-0.2
Dairy and related products		352.034	341.492	357.276	3.4	1.5	4.6
Fruits and vegetables		393.021	384.819	384.844	3.6	-2.1	0.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		230.327	232.714	231.760	3.5	0.6	-0.4
Other food at home		258.140	251.433	254.838	3.4	-1.3	1.4
Food away from home		454.850	-	459.127	2.3	0.9	-
Alcoholic beverages		309.840	-	312.401	0.6	0.8	-
Housing		400.046	-	400.857	4.3	0.2	-
Shelter		476.313	471.321	474.221	4.0	-0.4	0.6
Rent of primary residence		491.717	493.760	497.360	4.3	1.1	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		509.059	511.082	512.874	4.4	0.7	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		509.059	511.082	512.874	4.4	0.7	0.4
Household furnishings and operations		147.718	-	153.538	2.2	3.9	-
Apparel		125.851	-	139.718	-1.8	11.0	-
Transportation		252.257	-	254.758	6.0	1.0	-
Private transportation		260.792	-	263.071	6.3	0.9	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		141.454	-	142.189	0.7	0.5	-
New vehicles(1)		241.995	-	242.724	0.6	0.3	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		426.627	-	426.496	-1.8	0.0	-
Motor fuel		355.303	360.878	382.084	38.4	7.5	5.9
Gasoline (all types)		351.849	357.358	378.343	38.3	7.5	5.9
Unleaded regular(4)		338.655	344.037	365.270	39.7	7.9	6.2
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		394.426	400.325	418.389	33.4	6.1	4.5
Unleaded premium(4)		390.413	396.062	413.502	31.8	5.9	4.4
Medical care		760.966	-	766.087	-0.5	0.7	-
Recreation(3)		119.524	-	122.033	3.2	2.1	-
Education and communication(3)		187.637	-	191.497	5.2	2.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(6)		108.080	-	110.245	4.3	2.0	-
Other goods and services		715.434	-	710.027	3.0	-0.8	-
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. (6) Index on a December 2024=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 September 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Jul. 2026	Aug. 2026	Sep. 2026	Sep. 2025	Jul. 2026	Aug. 2026
All items		359.707	-	362.575	3.8	0.8	-
Food		371.836	-	372.377	2.7	0.1	-
Energy		364.562	370.000	382.505	21.7	4.9	3.4
All items less food and energy		365.982	-	368.165	2.8	0.6	-
All items less energy		365.377	-	367.335	2.8	0.5	-
All items less medical care		344.233	-	347.011	4.2	0.8	-
All items less shelter		314.647	-	319.715	3.7	1.6	-
Commodities		236.605	-	242.207	4.3	2.4	-
Commodities less food		178.622	-	185.207	4.9	3.7	-
Commodities less food & beverages		173.426	-	180.157	5.3	3.9	-
Durables		119.507	-	121.532	1.6	1.7	-
Nondurables		299.615	-	307.542	5.5	2.6	-
Nondurables less food		239.346	-	252.333	8.2	5.4	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		235.458	-	249.698	9.4	6.0	-
Services		470.737	-	470.703	3.5	0.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		477.986	-	481.009	2.5	0.6	-
Services less medical care services		448.299	-	448.029	3.8	-0.1	-
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.