Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.5 percent for the two months ending in August 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the August decrease was influenced by lower prices for shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 2.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 1.6 percent. Energy prices increased 2.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of natural gas service. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA, August 2021–August 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Aug 2021	3.7	2.5
Oct 2021	3.8	2.4
Dec 2021	4.2	2.8
Feb 2022	5.2	3.4
Apr 2022	5.0	2.7
Jun 2022	6.8	4.4
Aug 2022	5.7	4.1
Oct 2022	6.0	4.1
Dec 2022	4.9	4.0
Feb 2023	5.3	4.6
Apr 2023	4.2	4.7
Jun 2023	2.9	3.9
Aug 2023	3.4	3.6
Oct 2023	2.8	3.1
Dec 2023	2.6	2.5
Feb 2024	2.4	2.2
Apr 2024	3.8	3.1
Jun 2024	3.2	2.9
Aug 2024	2.7	2.9

Food prices decreased 0.1 percent for the two months ending in August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 0.3 percent, with lower prices for other food at home (-3.0 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-0.4 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.6 percent. Prices for food at home decreased 0.4 percent since a year ago, with lower prices for other food at home (-3.3 percent) and dairy and related products (-2.6 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 4.7 percent.

The energy index decreased 4.8 percent for the two months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-9.0 percent) and gasoline (-5.7 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 15.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 2.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for natural gas service (31.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 9.2 percent, while prices for gasoline declined 8.5 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.3 percent in the latest two-month period. Lower prices for recreation (-1.0 percent) and shelter (-0.8 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for apparel (2.0 percent) and education and communication (0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (26.8 percent) and shelter (2.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in new and used motor vehicles (-1.5 percent).

The October 2024 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on November 13, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.

The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 retail establishments—department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo Counties in the State of California.

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. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024	Aug. 2024	Aug. 2023	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		351.064	-	349.290	2.7	-0.5	-
All items (1967=100)		1,079.270	-	1,073.814	-	-	-
Food and beverages		369.320	-	369.067	1.5	-0.1	-
Food		372.216	-	371.987	1.6	-0.1	-
Food at home		331.134	332.446	330.130	-0.4	-0.3	-0.7
Cereals and bakery products		335.839	337.560	334.595	2.4	-0.4	-0.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		354.032	357.492	358.089	1.1	1.1	0.2
Dairy and related products		328.616	331.737	329.875	-2.6	0.4	-0.6
Fruits and vegetables		419.859	417.416	419.717	0.8	0.0	0.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		237.036	233.900	243.269	1.7	2.6	4.0
Other food at home		297.951	301.663	288.988	-3.3	-3.0	-4.2
Food away from home		424.458	-	425.466	4.7	0.2	-
Alcoholic beverages		335.583	-	334.908	0.3	-0.2	-
Housing		406.145	-	403.097	2.9	-0.8	-
Shelter		451.424	446.974	447.846	2.6	-0.8	0.2
Rent of primary residence(2)		504.841	506.110	508.724	1.5	0.8	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		476.496	477.909	480.745	2.9	0.9	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		476.496	477.909	480.745	2.9	0.9	0.6
Fuels and utilities		641.090	-	633.872	11.5	-1.1	-
Household energy		625.132	593.501	601.957	14.9	-3.7	1.4
Energy services(2)		629.786	597.343	605.937	15.3	-3.8	1.4
Electricity(2)		741.126	674.277	674.277	9.2	-9.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		422.321	459.255	485.722	31.8	15.0	5.8
Household furnishings and operations		171.370	-	171.369	-0.1	0.0	-
Apparel		146.378	-	149.279	26.8	2.0	-
Transportation		260.737	-	257.999	1.6	-1.1	-
Private transportation		263.093	-	259.688	1.6	-1.3	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		119.706	-	119.696	-1.5	0.0	-
New vehicles(1)		192.608	-	191.864	-2.1	-0.4	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		329.758	-	324.064	-9.8	-1.7	-
Motor fuel		359.602	345.396	339.116	-8.6	-5.7	-1.8
Gasoline (all types)		357.461	343.322	337.074	-8.5	-5.7	-1.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		357.164	342.795	336.454	-8.8	-5.8	-1.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		334.378	321.595	315.775	-8.1	-5.6	-1.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		340.096	327.458	321.854	-7.6	-5.4	-1.7
Medical care		591.992	-	591.710	0.1	0.0	-
Recreation(6)		150.338	-	148.836	2.2	-1.0	-
Education and communication(6)		162.511	-	163.493	1.2	0.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,979.336	-	2,016.190	-	1.9	-
Other goods and services		637.939	-	631.069	0.3	-1.1	-
Commodity and service group
All items		351.064	-	349.290	2.7	-0.5	-
Commodities		238.204	-	236.337	0.3	-0.8	-
Commodities less food & beverages		170.685	-	168.271	-0.2	-1.4	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		235.452	-	230.421	2.4	-2.1	-
Durables		112.951	-	112.380	-3.7	-0.5	-
Services		446.320	-	444.633	3.9	-0.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		341.070	-	339.233	2.9	-0.5	-
All items less shelter		312.124	-	311.207	2.8	-0.3	-
Commodities less food		178.133	-	175.708	-0.2	-1.4	-
Nondurables		303.772	-	301.130	1.7	-0.9	-
Nondurables less food		243.991	-	239.137	2.3	-2.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		466.142	-	467.496	6.0	0.3	-
Services less medical care services		435.670	-	433.829	4.1	-0.4	-
Energy		465.828	445.022	443.601	2.3	-4.8	-0.3
All items less energy		350.137	-	349.140	2.7	-0.3	-
All items less food and energy		347.672	-	346.549	2.9	-0.3	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.