Consumer Price Index, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson — April 2026

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Baltimore-Columbia-Towson was up 2.8 percent from February to April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Lori Keller noted that energy prices advanced 40.2 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The Baltimore area all items CPI-U increased 3.6 percent for the 12 months ending in April. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.7 percent, the energy index was up 21.7 percent, and the food index advanced 2.4 percent over the same period.

Food

The food index increased 1.7 percent for the two months ending in April. The index for food at home was up 2.4 percent with higher prices in meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+5.4 percent). The food away from home index increased 0.7 percent for the same period.

The food index rose 2.4 percent over the year. The food at home index was up 2.7 percent as prices increased for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+3.8 percent); and cereals and bakery products (+5.1 percent). The food away from home index advanced 1.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 40.2 percent over the April two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices increased 37.8 percent.

The energy index was up 21.7 percent from April 2025 to April 2026. Over the year, the gasoline index increased 28.5 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.9 percent from February to April. The index for shelter was up 1.0 percent, as prices for owners' equivalent rent of residences increased 1.1 percent. Within the same period, increases included the index for household furnishings and operations (+3.8 percent), and the index for apparel (+4.7 percent). In contrast, the index for medical care declined 2.2 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.7 percent over the year. The shelter index was up 3.0 percent, due in part to the increases in the owners' equivalent rent of residences (+2.7 percent) and rent of primary residence (+2.8 percent) indexes. Other price increases include other goods and services (+11.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (+6.5 percent) and apparel (+6.9 percent). In contrast, prices for new and used motor vehicles were down 1.4 percent for the same period as prices for used cars and trucks decreased 2.7 percent.

The Consumer Price Index for June 2026 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 14, 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 Baltimore 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 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Core Based Statistical Area includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne's counties, as well as Baltimore City, in Maryland.

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. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, CPI-U by expenditure category for April 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Expenditure category	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Feb. 2026	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026	Apr. 2025	Feb. 2026	Mar. 2026
All items		327.147	-	336.347	3.6	2.8	-
All items (1967=100)		978.469	-	1,005.986	-	-	-
Food and beverages		348.053	-	353.501	2.5	1.6	-
Food		348.183	-	354.047	2.4	1.7	-
Food at home		302.785	307.703	309.952	2.7	2.4	0.7
Cereals and bakery products		374.259	377.649	380.463	5.1	1.7	0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		327.411	335.345	345.025	3.8	5.4	2.9
Dairy and related products		269.553	273.327	273.447	1.2	1.4	0.0
Fruits and vegetables		331.548	331.368	325.075	2.0	-2.0	-1.9
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		243.802	248.802	247.223	1.6	1.4	-0.6
Other food at home		265.509	271.275	274.619	1.7	3.4	1.2
Food away from home		414.246	-	417.192	1.9	0.7	-
Alcoholic beverages		341.672	-	341.405	4.4	-0.1	-
Housing		330.521	-	343.068	4.4	3.8	-
Shelter		393.607	395.454	397.716	3.0	1.0	0.6
Rent of primary residence		453.928	454.290	457.190	2.8	0.7	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		413.255	415.753	417.763	2.7	1.1	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		413.255	415.753	417.763	2.7	1.1	0.5
Household furnishings and operations		139.391	-	144.753	6.5	3.8	-
Apparel		124.981	-	130.849	6.9	4.7	-
Transportation		280.436	-	297.397	3.7	6.0	-
Private transportation		284.527	-	301.832	3.0	6.1	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		133.596	-	134.647	-1.4	0.8	-
New vehicles(1)		278.168	-	279.140	0.0	0.3	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		310.531	-	314.653	-2.7	1.3	-
Motor fuel		259.848	321.516	358.144	28.6	37.8	11.4
Gasoline (all types)		253.734	313.902	349.584	28.5	37.8	11.4
Unleaded regular(4)		254.705	317.383	354.079	29.2	39.0	11.6
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		283.475	339.252	375.963	25.6	32.6	10.8
Unleaded premium(4)		274.319	325.579	358.821	24.5	30.8	10.2
Medical care		566.701	-	554.375	0.8	-2.2	-
Recreation(3)		155.405	-	156.818	1.0	0.9	-
Education and communication(3)		164.740	-	164.653	1.8	-0.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,487.369	-	1,498.010	4.6	0.7	-
Other goods and services		637.053	-	632.155	11.6	-0.8	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a March 1978=100 base. (2) Indexes 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.
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

Table 2. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, CPI-U by special aggregate index for April 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Special aggregate index	Indexes				Percent change from:
	Historical data	Feb. 2026	Mar. 2026	Apr. 2026	Apr. 2025	Feb. 2026	Mar. 2026
All items		327.147	-	336.347	3.6	2.8	-
Food		348.183	-	354.047	2.4	1.7	-
Energy		261.221	350.395	366.296	21.7	40.2	4.5
All items less food and energy		331.958	-	334.821	2.7	0.9	-
All items less energy		333.916	-	337.241	2.6	1.0	-
All items less medical care		315.333	-	325.563	3.9	3.2	-
All items less shelter		302.385	-	313.620	3.9	3.7	-
Commodities		231.647	-	238.862	3.2	3.1	-
Commodities less food		185.910	-	193.489	4.0	4.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		181.130	-	188.899	4.0	4.3	-
Durables		129.104	-	129.555	-0.7	0.3	-
Nondurables		283.608	-	295.694	4.9	4.3	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		229.162	-	248.591	8.9	8.5	-
Nondurables less food		235.363	-	253.398	8.5	7.7	-
Services		420.387	-	431.414	3.8	2.6	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		466.017	-	487.040	4.8	4.5	-
Services less medical care services		406.511	-	419.213	4.0	3.1	-
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.