Consumer Price Index, Riverside Area — March 2026

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario advanced 0.8 percent for the two months ending in March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the energy index increased 15.4 percent. The food index fell 0.4 percent, and the index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.3 percent during the two-month period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

The Riverside area all items CPI-U rose 3.1 percent for the 12 months ending in March. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.4 percent over the year. Food prices advanced 1.3 percent. Energy prices rose 13.4 percent.

Food

Food prices fell 0.4 percent for the two months ending in March. Prices for food at home (grocery store purchases) decreased 0.7 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were unchanged for the same period.

Food prices advanced 1.3 percent over the year. Prices for food at home rose 0.4 percent, with higher prices in 4 of the 6 major grocery store food groups Prices for food away from home advanced 2.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 15.4 percent for the two months ending in March. Gasoline prices rose 30.2 percent.

Energy prices rose 13.4 percent over the year. Gasoline prices increased 20.0 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy fell 0.3 percent during the two-month period. Among the index's components, prices were lower for education and communication (-3.9 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-2.5 percent). In contrast, prices were higher for recreation (+3.2 percent) and other goods and services (+2.2 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.4 percent over the year. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (+5.9 percent) and shelter (+2.2 percent). In contrast, prices were lower for education and communication (-7.2 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-1.0 percent).

Table A. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2022		2023		2024		2025		2026
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	1.5	8.6	1.3	7.3	0.0	2.9	1.8	2.9	0.5	3.2
March	2.7	10.0	0.0	4.6	1.4	4.3	1.0	2.5	0.8	3.1
May	1.4	9.4	0.8	3.9	0.6	4.0	0.7	2.6
July	1.1	9.2	0.6	3.4	-0.6	2.8	0.2	3.5
September	0.0	8.4	1.4	4.9	0.0	1.4	0.2	3.6
November	0.6	7.5	0.0	4.3	-0.2	1.1	0.6	4.5

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

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 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.

The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Core Based Statistical Area includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in California.

Refer to the national CPI news release technical note or the Handbook of Methods for more information.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Table 1. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, CPI-U by expenditure category for March 2026, not seasonally adjusted (December 2017=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from -
	Historical data	Jan. 2026	Feb. 2026	Mar. 2026	Mar. 2025	Jan. 2026	Feb. 2026
All Items		139.602	-	140.728	3.1	0.8	-
Food and beverages		141.845	-	141.091	1.1	-0.5	-
Food		143.137	-	142.545	1.3	-0.4	-
Food at home		135.477	134.924	134.502	0.4	-0.7	-0.3
Cereals and bakery products		-	157.673	158.751	2.7	-	0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		147.397	147.526	149.462	3.1	1.4	1.3
Dairy and related products		114.605	113.337	113.287	2.4	-1.2	0.0
Fruits and vegetables		124.380	127.524	121.138	-2.5	-2.6	-5.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		143.229	138.578	140.187	5.0	-2.1	1.2
Other food at home		123.709	123.269	123.325	-4.2	-0.3	0.0
Food away from home		154.160	-	154.163	2.4	0.0	-
Alcoholic beverages		-	-	113.650	-1.7	-	-
Housing		149.662	-	148.889	3.1	-0.5	-
Shelter		148.925	148.765	148.493	2.2	-0.3	-0.2
Rent of primary residence		154.024	153.191	152.480	1.1	-1.0	-0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		148.039	148.034	147.092	1.5	-0.6	-0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		148.039	148.034	147.092	1.5	-0.6	-0.6
Household furnishings and operations		129.625	-	126.395	6.8	-2.5	-
Apparel		124.823	-	122.394	1.5	-1.9	-
Transportation		141.826	-	151.015	6.6	6.5	-
Private transportation		144.565	-	154.433	6.1	6.8	-
New and used motor vehicles		115.264	-	116.161	-1.0	0.8	-
New vehicles		114.151	-	113.958	-0.9	-0.2	-
Used cars and trucks		129.464	-	128.326	-4.0	-0.9	-
Motor fuel		138.035	146.164	179.967	20.3	30.4	23.1
Gasoline (all types)		137.868	146.051	179.528	20.0	30.2	22.9
Unleaded regular(1)		137.824	146.103	180.200	20.2	30.7	23.3
Unleaded midgrade(1)		138.898	147.160	179.804	19.8	29.5	22.2
Unleaded premium(1)		137.222	145.009	176.121	19.3	28.3	21.5
Medical Care		138.488	-	137.055	5.9	-1.0	-
Recreation		114.513	-	118.149	4.2	3.2	-
Education and communication		102.427	-	98.427	-7.2	-3.9	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		123.819	-	123.783	-6.9	0.0	-
Other goods and services		128.755	-	131.587	0.4	2.2	-
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 March 2026, not seasonally adjusted (December 2017=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from -
	Historical data	Jan. 2026	Feb. 2026	Mar. 2026	Mar. 2025	Jan. 2026	Feb. 2026
All items		139.602	-	140.728	3.1	0.8	-
Food		143.137	-	142.545	1.3	-0.4	-
Energy		156.376	161.584	180.380	13.4	15.4	11.6
All items less food and energy		137.058	-	136.603	2.4	-0.3	-
All items less energy		137.857	-	137.385	2.2	-0.3	-
All items less medical care		139.695	-	141.010	2.9	0.9	-
All items less shelter		134.808	-	136.814	3.6	1.5	-
Commodities		127.853	-	131.162	3.2	2.6	-
Commodities less food		119.980	-	124.984	4.0	4.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages		120.056	-	125.329	4.2	4.4	-
Durables		111.846	-	109.954	-0.1	-1.7	-
Nondurables		135.437	-	141.674	4.7	4.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		128.178	-	141.776	8.5	10.6	-
Nondurables less food		127.661	-	140.151	8.0	9.8	-
Services		147.887	-	147.677	3.2	-0.1	-
Services less rent of shelter		146.216	-	146.311	4.7	0.1	-
Services less medical care services		148.555	-	148.556	3.0	0.0	-
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.