The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario increased 0.6 percent for the two months ending in September 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today.  Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the energy index increased 5.5 percent. The food index rose 0.1 percent, and the index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

The Riverside area all items CPI-U increased 3.6 percent for the 12 months ending in September. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.0 percent over the year. Food prices advanced 3.3 percent. Energy prices advanced 20.9 percent.

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, September 2023–September 2026

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Sep 2023	4.9	5.5
Nov 2023	4.3	5.1
Jan 2024	2.9	4.4
Mar 2024	4.3	4.7
May 2024	4.0	4.1
Jul 2024	2.8	3.6
Sep 2024	1.4	2.8
Nov 2024	1.1	1.9
Jan 2025	2.9	3.3
Mar 2025	2.5	3.1
May 2025	2.6	3.3
Jul 2025	3.5	3.9
Sep 2025	3.6	4.0
Nov 2025	4.5	4.6
Jan 2026	3.2	3.7
Mar 2026	3.1	2.4
May 2026	3.4	2.0
Jul 2026	3.2	1.9
Sep 2026	3.6	2.0

View Chart Data

Food

Food prices rose 0.1 percent for the two months ending in September. Prices for food at home (grocery store purchases) rose 0.1 percent, with higher prices in 4 of the 6 major grocery store food groups. Prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were unchanged for the same period.

Food prices advanced 3.3 percent over the year. Prices for food at home rose 3.7 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 2.6 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 5.5 percent for the two months ending in September. Gasoline prices increased 11.8 percent.            

Energy prices advanced 20.9 percent over the year. Gasoline prices increased 31.9 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.2 percent during the two-month period. Among the index’s components, prices were higher for apparel (+4.5 percent) and shelter (+0.3 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for household furnishings and operations (-2.3 percent) and medical care (-0.1 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.0 percent over the year. Components contributing to the increase included recreation (+7.3 percent) and shelter (+2.5 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for household furnishings and operations (-1.7 percent).

The November 2026 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on December 10, 2026.

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 Riverside 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.

Table 1. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, CPI-U by expenditure category for September 2026, not seasonally adjusted (December 2017=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		142.088	-	142.969	3.6	0.6	-
Food and beverages		144.533	-	144.634	3.0	0.1	-
Food		146.223	-	146.313	3.3	0.1	-
Food at home		139.072	137.994	139.192	3.7	0.1	0.9
Cereals and bakery products		162.638	159.848	160.108	-	-1.6	0.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		151.921	151.073	152.285	-	0.2	0.8
Dairy and related products		117.790	120.199	117.919	1.3	0.1	-1.9
Fruits and vegetables		127.846	128.666	129.950	9.5	1.6	1.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		143.563	143.884	144.227	4.1	0.5	0.2
Other food at home		128.827	124.821	128.084	3.1	-0.6	2.6
Food away from home		156.442	-	156.485	2.6	0.0	-
Alcoholic beverages		113.749	-	113.987	-	0.2	-
Housing		150.104	-	149.810	2.5	-0.2	-
Shelter		149.867	150.995	150.387	2.5	0.3	-0.4
Rent of primary residence		154.964	156.914	157.391	3.1	1.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		149.906	151.212	150.174	2.2	0.2	-0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		149.906	151.212	150.174	2.2	0.2	-0.7
Household furnishings and operations		125.540	-	122.672	-1.7	-2.3	-
Apparel		124.744	-	130.330	4.9	4.5	-
Transportation		151.273	-	154.849	7.7	2.4	-
Private transportation		154.609	-	158.235	7.5	2.3	-
New and used motor vehicles		118.245	-	118.245	1.5	0.0	-
New vehicles		114.604	-	114.378	0.6	-0.2	-
Used cars and trucks		133.884	-	133.923	-2.2	0.0	-
Motor fuel		178.324	185.276	200.020	32.6	12.2	8.0
Gasoline (all types)		177.878	184.486	198.875	31.9	11.8	7.8
Unleaded regular(1)		178.459	185.206	199.934	32.4	12.0	8.0
Unleaded midgrade(1)		178.116	184.572	198.522	31.0	11.5	7.6
Unleaded premium(1)		174.811	180.893	194.027	30.0	11.0	7.3
Medical Care		139.653	-	139.530	1.6	-0.1	-
Recreation		119.955	-	121.679	7.3	1.4	-
Education and communication		100.266	-	101.852	-0.5	1.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		124.990	-	125.277	2.4	0.2	-
Other goods and services		128.300	-	129.024	1.5	0.6	-
Footnotes (1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.

Table 2. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, CPI-U by special aggregate index for September 2026, not seasonally adjusted (December 2017=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		142.088	-	142.969	3.6	0.6	-
Food		146.223	-	146.313	3.3	0.1	-
Energy		180.372	182.050	190.370	20.9	5.5	4.6
All items less food and energy		137.736	-	138.000	2.0	0.2	-
All items less energy		138.835	-	139.077	2.2	0.2	-
All items less medical care		142.279	-	143.234	3.7	0.7	-
All items less shelter		138.172	-	139.259	4.3	0.8	-
Commodities		132.972	-	135.658	5.6	2.0	-
Commodities less food		125.952	-	129.763	6.7	3.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		126.326	-	130.258	6.9	3.1	-
Durables		112.043	-	110.571	-0.7	-1.3	-
Nondurables		143.303	-	148.330	8.6	3.5	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		141.483	-	151.695	14.3	7.2	-
Nondurables less food		139.884	-	149.429	13.6	6.8	-
Services		148.772	-	148.547	2.6	-0.2	-
Services less rent of shelter		147.024	-	145.770	2.8	-0.9	-
Services less medical care services		149.494	-	149.202	2.7	-0.2	-
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.