Databases

Database Name	Special Notice	Top Picks	Data Finder	One Screen	Multi- Screen	Tables	Text Files
All Urban Consumers (Current Series) (Consumer Price Index - CPI)
Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (Current Series) (Consumer Price Index - CPI)
All Urban Consumers (Chained CPI) (Consumer Price Index - CPI)
Average Price Data (Consumer Price Index - CPI)

Calculators

Calculator Name	Calculator
Inflation Easily find out how the buying power of the dollar has changed over the years using the inflation calculator.

More Tools

• Series Report—Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.

• Text files - For those who want it all. Download a flat file of the entire database or large subset of the database.
  • All Urban Consumers (Current Series)
  • Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (Current Series)
  • All Urban Consumers (Chained CPI)
  • Average Price Data
  • Department Store Inventory Price Index
  • Special Requests

All CPI Databases »

CPI Detailed Report Tables:

• Archived CPI Detailed Reports

Relative Importance of Items in the Consumer Price Index:

• Tables 1 - 7, Relative Importance of Components in the Consumer Price Index, all areas (PDF)
• Archived CPI Relative Importance Tables 1987-current

Publications

• CPI Detailed Reports
• BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index (PDF)
• Note on Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers

Reports

• CPI research series using current methods
• Pharmaceutical Pricing in the PPI, CPI, and IPP
• Reconciliation Between the CPI and PCE Price Index. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) undertook a joint project to detail and quantify the differences between the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Chain-type Price Index. A paper summarizing these differences can be found on the BEA website at https://www.bea.gov/papers/pdf/cpi_pce.pdf. The latest reconciliation tables can be found at https://www.bea.gov/national/consumer_spending.htm.
• The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) produces regional price parities (RPPs). RPPs measure the differences in the price levels of goods and services across states and metropolitan areas for a given year. RPPs are expressed as a percentage of the overall national price level for each year, which is equal to 100.0. These data, which are the products of BEA and not BLS, can be found at https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/rpp/rpp_newsrelease.htm.
• Treatment of Owner-Occupied Housing in the CPI - Paper presented to the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee (FESAC) on December 9, 2005 (PDF)
• Guidelines for Quality Adjustment of New Vehicle Prices (PDF)
• Experimental Consumer Price Index for Americans 62 years of Age and Older, 1982-2007 (Monthly Labor Review April 2008) (PDF)
• Response Rates for the Consumer Price Indexes, 2016 (PDF)
• Response rates for earlier years
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2003 - December 2003 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2004 - December 2004 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2005 - December 2005 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2006 - December 2006 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2007 - December 2007 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2008 - December 2008 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2009 - December 2009 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2010 - December 2010 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2011 - December 2011 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2012 - December 2012 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2013 - December 2013 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2014 - December 2014 (PDF)
• Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2016 - December 2016 (PDF)
• Hedonic Quality Adjustment in the U.S. CPI

Monthly Labor Review articles related to the Consumer Price Index

• Updating the Rent Sample for the CPI Housing Survey
• PPI and CPI seasonal adjustment
• Producing Diseased-Based Price Indexes
• Addressing misconceptions about the Consumer Price Index
• Price measures of new vehicles: a comparison
• A hedonic model for Internet access service in the Consumer Price Index
• Price measurement in the United States: A decade after the Boskin Report
• Comparing U.S. and European inflation: the CPI and the HICP
• The CE and the PCE: a comparison
• Interarea price levels: an experimental methodology
• The effects of rounding on the Consumer Price Index
• Item replacement and quality change in apparel price indexes

CPI Fact Sheets

• Understanding the Consumer Price Index: Answers to Some Questions
• Guide to Available CPI Data (PDF 15K)
• How to Use the Consumer Price Index for Escalation (PDF 12K)
• The Consumer Price Index--Why the Published Averages Don't Always Match An Individual's Inflation Experience (PDF 136KB)
• Math Calculations to Better Utilize CPI Data (PDF 39K)

How BLS Measures Price Change in the Consumer Price Index for:

• Airline Fares
• Cable Television
• Household Fuels
• Leased Cars
• Medical Care
• Motor Fuels
• Motor Vehicle Insurance
• New Vehicles
• Personal Computers and Peripheral Equipment
• Rent and Rental Equivalence
• Telephone Services
• Tuition and Fees, College
• Tuition and Fees, Elementary and High School
• Used Cars and Trucks

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the CPI?
2. How is the CPI used?
3. Whose buying habits does the CPI reflect?
4. Is the CPI a cost-of-living index?
5. Does the CPI measure my experience with price changes?
6. How is the CPI market basket determined?
7. What goods and services does the CPI cover?
8. How are CPI prices collected and reviewed?
9. How is the CPI calculated?
10. How are taxes treated in the CPI?

All CPI FAQs »

Notices

In January 2018, BLS will introduce a new geographic area sample for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The 2018 revision utilizes the 2010 Decennial Census and incorporates an updated area sample design, changes the frequency of publication for several local area indexes, and establishes some new local area and aggregate indexes. The first indexes using the new structure will be published in February 2018. Additional information on the geographic revision is available at: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/georevision2018.htm.

Social Security COLA

Soon after the publication of September CPI data each October, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announces the annual change in its benefit payments for the coming year for Social Security's Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. Specific information on how the Social Security Administration uses the CPI to determine cost-of-living adjustments can be found at https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/colasummary.html.

Contacts

Personal assistance: 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. ET

• Telephone: (202) 691-7000
• Email: Contact the CPI Information Office

For questions regarding seasonal adjustment:

• Telephone: (202) 691-6968
• Email: cpiseas@bls.gov