Geographies · Consumer Price Index
CPI geography
BLS publishes the CPI for 58 areas — the U.S. city average, regions, city-size classes, and about two dozen metros — each measuring its own price change over time.
BLS publishes CPI-U indexes for 58 areas: the national 'U.S. city average' plus four census regions, city-size classes, and roughly two dozen metropolitan areas. Each area's index measures price change over time within that area — it does not measure cost-of-living differences between places. Every series has its own base period, so a higher index level in one metro than another says nothing about which city is more expensive; only the percent changes are comparable. Metro indexes are also noisier than the national one, and many metros are published bimonthly — every other month — so a metro's latest reading can be a month or two older than the national index.
One caveat applies to every CPI series regardless of geography: October 2025 is a real hole in the record. The federal government shutdown halted CPI collection, and the month was never published. Charts on pumsdata show a gap there, and year-over-year or month-over-month figures skip any pair that touches the missing month — the gap is never filled in by interpolation.
Also known as: metro CPI, regional CPI, local inflation, city inflation.
See cpi geography in the data
Track CPI by category — headline, core, and the individual components that move them. Start free — no credit card needed.
CPI geography — FAQ
What is cpi geography in inflation data?+
BLS publishes the CPI for 58 areas — the U.S. city average, regions, city-size classes, and about two dozen metros — each measuring its own price change over time. BLS publishes CPI-U indexes for 58 areas: the national 'U.S. city average' plus four census regions, city-size classes, and roughly two dozen metropolitan areas. Each area's index measures price change over time within that area — it does not measure cost-of-living differences between places. Every series has its own base period, so a higher index level in one metro than another says nothing about which city is more expensive; only the percent changes are comparable. Metro indexes are also noisier than the national one, and many metros are published bimonthly — every other month — so a metro's latest reading can be a month or two older than the national index.
Why does cpi geography matter?+
One caveat applies to every CPI series regardless of geography: October 2025 is a real hole in the record. The federal government shutdown halted CPI collection, and the month was never published. Charts on pumsdata show a gap there, and year-over-year or month-over-month figures skip any pair that touches the missing month — the gap is never filled in by interpolation.
Where does this inflation data come from?+
All figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index. pumsdata is an independent product and is not affiliated with the BLS.