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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Geographic Information > Southwest > News Release
News Release Information

25-351-DAL
Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (972) 850-4800

Consumer Price Index, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area — February 2025

Area prices rose 1.0 percent in January and February, up 1.0 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area advanced 1.0 percent for the two months ending in February 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the all items less food and energy index rose 0.7 percent. The energy index advanced 3.5 percent in January and February, while the food index rose 1.3 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area all items CPI-U increased 1.0 percent for the 12 months ending in February. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.3 percent and food prices rose 2.5 percent over the year. Energy prices fell 3.8 percent.

  Line chart of 12-month percent changes in the CPI-U all items and all items less food and energy for Houston, not seasonally adjusted. An accessible version is available in View Chart Data link below the chart.
View Chart Data
Food

Food prices were up 1.3 percent for the two months ending in February. Prices for food at home (grocery store purchases) rose 1.6 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 0.9 percent for the same period. Within the food at home category, advances in the indexes for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+5.2 percent), fruits and vegetables (+4.3 percent), and other food at home (+1.2 percent) outweighed decreases in the indexes for dairy and related products (-4.4 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-1.4 percent).

Food prices rose 2.5 percent over the year, with prices for food away from home (+3.8 percent) leading the change. Prices for food at home also advanced, up 1.1 percent. An 11.2-percent increase in the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs drove most of the rise in the food at home index. In contrast, the indexes for other food at home and dairy and related products declined over the 12-month period, falling 3.8 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively.

Energy

The energy index rose 3.5 percent for the two months ending in February. Prices paid for gasoline increased 3.9 percent.

From February 2024 to February 2025, energy prices fell 3.8 percent. The index for gasoline declined 5.5 percent over the same period.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.7 percent during the two-month period. Among the index’s components, notable price advances were seen in the indexes for lodging away from home, household furnishings and operations (+4.5 percent), and medical care (+1.3 percent). In contrast, the indexes for owners’ equivalent rent of residences (-0.5 percent) and public transportation declined.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.3 percent. Components contributing most to the increase included owners’ equivalent rent of residences (+1.1 percent), household furnishings and operations (+3.6 percent), and other goods and services (+4.2 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for new and used motor vehicles (-2.1 percent) and apparel (-3.9 percent).

The April 2025 Consumer Price Index for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.

Publication updates and changes

In accordance with annual practice, relative importance weights have been updated and are available online in the CPI Supplemental Table of Contents.

Effective with the January 2025 data release, several indexes and average price series were discontinued. More information is available on the CPI discontinued series page. Direct any inquiries to the CPI office using one of the CPI contact information options listed online.


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 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.

Percent changes for all-items data previously found in Table A of this release can be accessed in Chart 1 for this release and its attendant data table. A full all-items data series history for the original index value and for 1-month, 2-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month percent changes can be accessed via BLS data query tools. A direct link to the all-items series is provided in Table 1 of this release under historical data.

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 February 2025, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Expenditure category

 Indexes Percent change from:
Historical
data		 Dec.
2024		 Jan.
2025		 Feb.
2025		 Feb.
2024		 Dec.
2024		 Jan.
2025

All items

 272.952 - 275.619 1.0 1.0 -

All items (1967=100)

 875.454 - 884.011 - - -

Food and beverages

 303.045 - 307.535 2.5 1.5 -

Food

 306.115 - 309.945 2.5 1.3 -

Food at home

 291.037 295.538 295.597 1.1 1.6 0.0

Cereals and bakery products

 341.151 334.644 336.543 -4.5 -1.4 0.6

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

 325.343 331.175 342.423 11.2 5.2 3.4

Dairy and related products

 232.906 243.094 222.773 -8.9 -4.4 -8.4

Fruits and vegetables

 366.679 388.249 382.546 4.4 4.3 -1.5

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

 352.548 363.947 351.494 0.2 -0.3 -3.4

Other food at home

 243.770 240.426 246.698 -3.8 1.2 2.6

Food away from home

 317.155 - 319.978 3.8 0.9 -

Alcoholic beverages

 243.628 - 257.710 4.7 5.8 -

Housing

 270.280 - 273.008 1.6 1.0 -

Shelter

 328.605 330.004 329.627 1.4 0.3 -0.1

Rent of primary residence

 326.168 324.878 325.774 1.1 -0.1 0.3

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

 310.160 310.539 308.688 1.1 -0.5 -0.6

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

 310.160 310.539 308.688 1.1 -0.5 -0.6

Household furnishings and operations

 154.441 - 161.348 3.6 4.5 -

Apparel

 179.619 - 183.906 -3.9 2.4 -

Transportation

 232.747 - 234.962 -1.3 1.0 -

Private transportation

 233.770 - 237.480 -1.3 1.6 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

 100.507 - 100.913 -2.1 0.4 -

New vehicles(1)

 194.884 - 196.022 -0.2 0.6 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

 292.891 - 295.121 -0.5 0.8 -

Motor fuel

 230.230 236.111 239.209 -5.6 3.9 1.3

Gasoline (all types)

 230.161 235.966 239.117 -5.5 3.9 1.3

Unleaded regular(4)

 229.769 235.833 239.115 -5.9 4.1 1.4

Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

 265.325 270.743 274.507 -4.6 3.5 1.4

Unleaded premium(4)

 276.978 282.088 284.836 -2.9 2.8 1.0

Medical care

 546.602 - 553.519 1.0 1.3 -

Recreation(3)

 131.016 - 130.028 1.1 -0.8 -

Education and communication(3)

 120.792 - 122.042 1.7 1.0 -

Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)

 1,306.402 - 1,320.232 -0.2 1.1 -

Other goods and services

 488.046 - 491.316 4.2 0.7 -

(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.

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

 Indexes Percent change from:
Historical
data		 Dec.
2024		 Jan.
2025		 Feb.
2025		 Feb.
2024		 Dec.
2024		 Jan.
2025

All items

 272.952 - 275.619 1.0 1.0 -

Food

 306.115 - 309.945 2.5 1.3 -

Energy

 190.631 195.932 197.255 -3.8 3.5 0.7

All items less food and energy

 281.389 - 283.454 1.3 0.7 -

All items less energy

 285.034 - 287.298 1.4 0.8 -

All items less medical care

 259.254 - 261.738 1.0 1.0 -

All items less shelter

 251.230 - 254.571 0.8 1.3 -

Commodities

 203.783 - 206.795 -0.2 1.5 -

Commodities less food

 162.858 - 165.423 -1.7 1.6 -

Commodities less food & beverages

 160.012 - 162.375 -1.9 1.5 -

Durables

 112.100 - 113.110 -0.8 0.9 -

Nondurables

 255.849 - 260.710 0.2 1.9 -

Nondurables less food

 211.806 - 217.307 -2.0 2.6 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

 210.048 - 215.095 -2.5 2.4 -

Services

 342.728 - 345.090 1.7 0.7 -

Services less rent of shelter(1)

 353.013 - 356.979 2.0 1.1 -

Services less medical care services

 318.803 - 320.889 1.8 0.7 -

(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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025