The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area increased 1.6 percent for the 12 months ending in December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Jerome Watters noted that the all items less food and energy index rose 1.2 percent. The index for food advanced 3.6 percent, while the index for energy was up 4.0 percent over the 12-month period.

BLS did not collect survey data for October 2025 due to a lapse in appropriations. BLS is unable to retroactively collect these data. For a few indexes, BLS uses nonsurvey data sources instead of survey data to make the index calculations. BLS was able to retroactively acquire most of the nonsurvey data for October. Accordingly, all analysis in this release is over the year and not seasonally adjusted.

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, December 2022–December 2025

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Dec 2022	5.3	5.2
Feb 2023	5.2	5.4
Apr 2023	4.0	5.3
Jun 2023	1.7	5.4
Aug 2023	2.7	4.5
Oct 2023	3.0	3.9
Dec 2023	4.5	5.2
Feb 2024	3.5	3.7
Apr 2024	2.9	2.7
Jun 2024	2.1	1.8
Aug 2024	1.7	2.2
Oct 2024	2.1	2.8
Dec 2024	1.0	1.3
Feb 2025	1.0	1.3
Apr 2025	1.2	1.5
Jun 2025	1.8	2.1
Aug 2025	1.1	1.3
Oct 2025	-	-
Dec 2025	1.6	1.2

The food index rose 3.6 percent over the year. The index for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 4.6 percent. The index for food at home (grocery store purchases) rose 2.8 percent, with higher prices occurring in 5 of the 6 major grocery store food groups. The increase within the food at home category was led by a 7.2-percent rise in the index for fruits and vegetables.

From December 2024 to December 2025, energy prices were up 4.0 percent. The index for gasoline decreased 4.4 percent over the year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.2 percent over the year, reflecting higher prices for household furnishings and operations (+8.0 percent), owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+0.9 percent), and medical care services. In contrast, prices were lower for communication and public transportation.

The Consumer Price Index for January 2026 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 7:30 a.m. (CT).

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 Houston 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 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, Core Based Statistical Area includes the counties of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller.

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. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, CPI-U by expenditure category for December 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Oct. 2025	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025	Dec. 2024	Oct. 2025	Nov. 2025
All items		-	-	277.453	1.6	-	-
All items (1967=100)		-	-	889.892	-	-	-
Food and beverages		-	-	314.283	3.7	-	-
Food		-	-	317.149	3.6	-	-
Food at home		-	296.011	299.113	2.8	-	1.0
Cereals and bakery products		-	331.823	330.636	-3.1	-	-0.4
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		-	335.559	337.929	3.9	-	0.7
Dairy and related products		-	239.356	244.238	4.9	-	2.0
Fruits and vegetables		-	380.282	393.080	7.2	-	3.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		-	354.781	361.626	2.6	-	1.9
Other food at home		-	247.952	247.316	1.5	-	-0.3
Food away from home		-	-	331.593	4.6	-	-
Alcoholic beverages		-	-	257.389	5.6	-	-
Housing		-	-	277.482	2.7	-	-
Shelter		-	334.720	331.827	1.0	-	-0.9
Rent of primary residence		-	331.455	331.376	1.6	-	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		-	314.814	312.943	0.9	-	-0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		-	314.814	312.943	0.9	-	-0.6
Household furnishings and operations		-	-	166.841	8.0	-	-
Apparel		-	-	181.797	1.2	-	-
Transportation		-	-	233.595	0.4	-	-
Private transportation		-	-	235.463	0.7	-	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		-	-	100.445	-0.1	-	-
New vehicles(1)		196.060	-	195.552	0.3	-0.3	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		303.676	-	296.523	1.2	-2.4	-
Motor fuel		-	229.553	220.338	-4.3	-	-4.0
Gasoline (all types)		234.713	229.414	220.059	-4.4	-6.2	-4.1
Unleaded regular(4)		233.802	228.315	218.467	-4.9	-6.6	-4.3
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		275.777	269.974	260.708	-1.7	-5.5	-3.4
Unleaded premium(4)		285.735	280.840	273.373	-1.3	-4.3	-2.7
Medical care		-	-	560.665	2.6	-	-
Recreation(3)		-	-	132.066	0.8	-	-
Education and communication(3)		-	-	113.371	-6.1	-	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		-	-	1,335.104	2.2	-	-
Other goods and services		-	-	494.410	1.3	-	-
(1) Index is on a April 1978=100 base. (2) Index is on a December 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. NOTE: The October 2025 and November 2025 data values are not available due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations.

Table 2. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, CPI-U by special aggregate index for December 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Oct. 2025	Nov. 2025	Dec. 2025	Dec. 2024	Oct. 2025	Nov. 2025
All items		-	-	277.453	1.6	-	-
Food		-	-	317.149	3.6	-	-
Energy		-	204.404	198.221	4.0	-	-3.0
All items less food and energy		-	-	284.755	1.2	-	-
All items less energy		-	-	289.247	1.5	-	-
All items less medical care		-	-	263.368	1.6	-	-
All items less shelter		-	-	256.261	2.0	-	-
Commodities		-	-	206.891	1.5	-	-
Commodities less food		-	-	163.897	0.6	-	-
Commodities less food & beverages		-	-	160.846	0.5	-	-
Durables		-	-	113.190	1.0	-	-
Nondurables		-	-	260.785	1.9	-	-
Nondurables less food		-	-	212.087	0.1	-	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		-	-	209.619	-0.2	-	-
Services		-	-	348.624	1.7	-	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		-	-	362.035	2.6	-	-
Services less medical care services		-	-	323.876	1.6	-	-
(1) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. NOTE: The October 2025 and November 2025 data values are not available due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations.