Consumer Price Index, Boston-Cambridge-Newton — May 2026

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Boston-Cambridge-Newton was up 2.4 percent from March to May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that the indexes for all items less food and energy (+1.4 percent), energy (+17.3 percent), and food (+2.0 percent) rose over the bi-monthly period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The Boston area all items CPI-U advanced 3.2 percent for the 12 months ending in May. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.9 percent. Over the same period, the indexes for energy and food increased 23.0 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.

Food

The food index advanced 2.0 percent from March to May. The index for food at home (grocery store purchases) rose 2.5 percent, with higher prices in all six major grocery store food groups. The food away from home index (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) increased 1.1 percent.

The food index rose 3.7 percent over the year. Prices for food at home advanced 4.0 percent, and prices for food away from home rose 2.9 percent. Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes recorded price increases over the year.

Energy

The energy index increased 17.3 percent over the two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices rose 25.0 percent.

The energy index rose 23.0 percent from May 2025 to May 2026. The gasoline index advanced 47.8 percent, the largest over-the-year increase since July 2022.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.4 percent from March to May. Within shelter (+2.4 percent), prices for lodging away from home advanced, while prices increased for owners' equivalent rent and rent of primary residence (+0.8 percent each).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.9 percent over the year. Within shelter (+2.2 percent), prices for owner's equivalent rent (+4.4 percent) and rent of primary residence (+3.5 percent) rose, while prices for lodging away from home declined. Other categories with increases included tuition, other school fees, and childcare (+5.2 percent) and airline fares.

The July 2026 Consumer Price Index for the Boston area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 Boston 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 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Core Based Statistical Area includes Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, and Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts and Rockingham and Strafford Counties in New Hampshire.

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. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, CPI-U by expenditure category for May 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026	May 2026	May 2025	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026
All items		350.705	-	359.056	3.2	2.4	-
All items (1967=100)		1,019.333	-	1,043.607	-	-	-
Food and beverages		361.248	-	367.926	3.5	1.8	-
Food		366.618	-	373.774	3.7	2.0	-
Food at home		320.888	323.140	328.839	4.0	2.5	1.8
Cereals and bakery products		379.293	392.661	386.449	0.1	1.9	-1.6
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		333.510	341.618	349.517	1.1	4.8	2.3
Dairy and related products		353.783	358.263	358.238	-2.3	1.3	0.0
Fruits and vegetables		380.660	373.026	395.579	6.6	3.9	6.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		229.618	233.161	231.531	11.0	0.8	-0.7
Other food at home		258.572	255.146	261.886	6.1	1.3	2.6
Food away from home		448.596	-	453.607	2.9	1.1	-
Alcoholic beverages		309.466	-	312.229	2.4	0.9	-
Housing		384.709	-	395.326	2.6	2.8	-
Shelter		457.938	465.244	468.708	2.2	2.4	0.7
Rent of primary residence		483.919	486.465	487.943	3.5	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		500.127	502.843	504.053	4.4	0.8	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		500.127	502.843	504.053	4.4	0.8	0.2
Household furnishings and operations		148.975	-	148.812	1.5	-0.1	-
Apparel		131.624	-	133.892	-5.4	1.7	-
Transportation		243.964	-	256.789	8.5	5.3	-
Private transportation		251.416	-	264.319	7.2	5.1	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		139.014	-	139.948	-1.5	0.7	-
New vehicles(1)		241.004	-	241.260	0.0	0.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		406.964	-	415.575	-3.5	2.1	-
Motor fuel		312.996	351.989	391.155	47.8	25.0	11.1
Gasoline (all types)		309.936	348.526	387.349	47.8	25.0	11.1
Unleaded regular(4)		297.724	336.053	375.196	50.0	26.0	11.6
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		348.344	386.660	423.474	40.2	21.6	9.5
Unleaded premium(4)		347.478	383.421	416.394	37.3	19.8	8.6
Medical care		757.409	-	754.926	-1.5	-0.3	-
Recreation(3)		120.866	-	120.321	3.5	-0.5	-
Education and communication(3)		185.806	-	186.334	3.0	0.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(6)		107.327	-	107.327	5.2	0.0	-
Other goods and services		699.674	-	710.296	5.6	1.5	-
Footnotes (1) Index is on a January 1978=100 base. (2) Index is on a November 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Index on a December 2024=100 base.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

Table 2. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, CPI-U by special aggregate index for May 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026	May 2026	May 2025	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026
All items		350.705	-	359.056	3.2	2.4	-
Food		366.618	-	373.774	3.7	2.0	-
Energy		326.840	379.292	383.422	23.0	17.3	1.1
All items less food and energy		358.300	-	363.487	1.9	1.4	-
All items less energy		358.048	-	363.476	2.1	1.5	-
All items less medical care		335.078	-	343.772	3.6	2.6	-
All items less shelter		309.577	-	317.007	3.9	2.4	-
Commodities		233.427	-	239.467	3.9	2.6	-
Commodities less food		176.286	-	181.512	3.7	3.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		171.019	-	176.332	3.9	3.1	-
Durables		117.992	-	117.728	-1.4	-0.2	-
Nondurables		295.498	-	306.579	6.1	3.7	-
Nondurables less food		236.134	-	249.708	8.5	5.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		231.909	-	246.784	9.5	6.4	-
Services		456.158	-	466.531	2.8	2.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		468.706	-	478.707	3.5	2.1	-
Services less medical care services		433.031	-	444.270	3.1	2.6	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1982=100 base.
- Data not available. Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.