Prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.4 percent for the two months ending in September 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the energy index decreased 7.4 percent, with the index for gasoline contributing most to the decline. The all items less food and energy index remained unchanged, while the food index rose 1.1 percent in August and September. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 2.6 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.1 percent over the year, and food prices rose 2.8 percent. Energy prices declined 3.1 percent, entirely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, September 2021–September 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Sep 2021	5.9	4.2
Nov 2021	7.5	5.5
Jan 2022	7.8	6.3
Mar 2022	9.0	6.5
May 2022	9.1	6.0
Jul 2022	9.4	5.7
Sep 2022	9.2	7.2
Nov 2022	8.4	7.6
Jan 2023	7.5	7.2
Mar 2023	5.8	7.4
May 2023	4.7	7.0
Jul 2023	4.0	6.4
Sep 2023	4.6	5.8
Nov 2023	5.2	6.2
Jan 2024	5.3	6.2
Mar 2024	4.9	4.8
May 2024	5.0	5.0
Jul 2024	4.1	4.2
Sep 2024	2.6	3.1

Food prices advanced 1.1 percent for the two months ending in September. The index for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) rose 1.7 percent and the index for food at home (grocery store prices) increased 0.7 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+3.2 percent) led the rise. A decline in the index for other food at home (-1.4 percent) partially offset the increase.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.8 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 3.9 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home rose 2.0 percent. Over-the-year increases in the indexes for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+6.5 percent) and dairy and related products (+5.2 percent) contributed most to the rise in the food at home index.

The energy index fell 7.4 percent for the two months ending in September. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-11.8 percent) but a decline in prices paid for electricity (-3.7 percent) also contributed. A 1.5-percent rise in the index for natural gas service partially offset the fall in the energy index over the two-month period.

From September 2023 to September 2024, energy prices decreased 3.1, entirely due to lower prices for gasoline (-16.2 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 9.3 percent, and prices paid for natural gas service increased 14.8 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (+8.7 percent), public transportation, and household furnishings and operations (+1.6 percent) led advances. Index increases were entirely offset by lower prices for recreation (-1.4 percent), education and communication (-1.5 percent), and new and used motor vehicles (-0.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent. Components contributing most to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residence (+5.2 percent), rent of primary residence (+5.1 percent), and medical care services. Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-4.7 percent) and medical care commodities.

The November 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, December 11, 2024.

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 Dallas 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, Core Based Statistical Area includes the counties of Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise in Texas.

Refer to the national CPI news release technical note or the Handbook of Methods for more information.