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

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Boston-Cambridge-Newton was up 0.7 percent from January to March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Michael G. Phinney noted that the indexes for all items less food and energy (+0.5 percent), food (+1.4 percent), and energy (+1.6 percent) advanced 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 2.0 percent for the 12 months ending in March. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.7 percent. Over the same period, the indexes for food and energy increased 2.5 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.

Food

The food index advanced 1.4 percent from January to March. The index for food at home (grocery store purchases) rose 2.5 percent, with higher prices in 5 of the 6 major grocery store food groups. In comparison, the food away from home index (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) declined 0.3 percent.

The food index rose 2.5 percent over the year. Prices for food at home increased 2.2 percent, and prices for food away from home rose 2.8 percent. Three of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the year, with increases ranging from 5.2 percent for fruits and vegetables to 11.4 percent for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials.

Energy

The energy index increased 1.6 percent over the two-month pricing period. Gasoline prices advanced 19.4 percent.

The energy index rose 4.9 percent from March 2025 to March 2026. Over the year, the gasoline index advanced 18.3 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent from January to March. Within shelter (+0.7 percent), prices rose for owners' equivalent rent of residences (+0.8 percent), rent of primary residence (+0.1 percent), and lodging away from home. Other indexes contributing to the increase included medical care (+0.7 percent), apparel (+2.1 percent), and airline fares.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.7 percent over the year. The shelter index (+2.3 percent) was the largest contributor to the increase, reflecting increases in owners' equivalent rent of residences (+4.3 percent) and rent of primary residence (+3.4 percent). Other categories with increases included tuition, other school fees, and childcare, which rose 5.2 percent.

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

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Table 1. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, CPI-U by expenditure category for March 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=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		348.343	-	350.705	2.0	0.7	-
All items (1967=100)		1,012.467	-	1,019.333	-	-	-
Food and beverages		357.355	-	361.248	2.3	1.1	-
Food		361.694	-	366.618	2.5	1.4	-
Food at home		313.195	318.252	320.888	2.2	2.5	0.8
Cereals and bakery products		378.694	386.513	379.293	-2.3	0.2	-1.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		328.894	338.319	333.510	-4.4	1.4	-1.4
Dairy and related products		356.836	359.091	353.783	-2.8	-0.9	-1.5
Fruits and vegetables		379.648	375.126	380.660	5.2	0.3	1.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		224.123	230.571	229.618	11.4	2.5	-0.4
Other food at home		242.520	246.021	258.572	6.0	6.6	5.1
Food away from home		450.082	-	448.596	2.8	-0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		313.699	-	309.466	-0.2	-1.3	-
Housing		384.671	-	384.709	2.0	0.0	-
Shelter		454.572	457.884	457.938	2.3	0.7	0.0
Rent of primary residence		483.368	483.483	483.919	3.4	0.1	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		496.263	498.639	500.127	4.3	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		496.263	498.639	500.127	4.3	0.8	0.3
Household furnishings and operations		149.111	-	148.975	3.7	-0.1	-
Apparel		128.934	-	131.624	-8.2	2.1	-
Transportation		237.971	-	243.964	3.7	2.5	-
Private transportation		246.133	-	251.416	2.8	2.1	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		139.484	-	139.014	-1.6	-0.3	-
New vehicles(1)		240.448	-	241.004	0.3	0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		411.932	-	406.964	-4.0	-1.2	-
Motor fuel		262.138	261.030	312.996	18.3	19.4	19.9
Gasoline (all types)		259.582	258.484	309.936	18.3	19.4	19.9
Unleaded regular(4)		247.246	246.061	297.724	19.1	20.4	21.0
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		302.867	302.063	348.344	15.3	15.0	15.3
Unleaded premium(4)		303.545	303.136	347.478	14.6	14.5	14.6
Medical care		752.354	-	757.409	-1.0	0.7	-
Recreation(3)		121.580	-	120.866	2.1	-0.6	-
Education and communication(3)		184.798	-	185.806	3.0	0.5	-
Tuition, other school fees, and childcare(1)		1,662.595	-	1,671.844	5.2	0.6	-
Other goods and services		687.612	-	699.674	4.6	1.8	-
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.
- 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 March 2026, not seasonally adjusted (1982-84=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		348.343	-	350.705	2.0	0.7	-
Food		361.694	-	366.618	2.5	1.4	-
Energy		321.742	290.909	326.840	4.9	1.6	12.4
All items less food and energy		356.474	-	358.300	1.7	0.5	-
All items less energy		355.821	-	358.048	1.8	0.6	-
All items less medical care		332.819	-	335.078	2.2	0.7	-
All items less shelter		307.614	-	309.577	1.7	0.6	-
Commodities		228.885	-	233.427	1.7	2.0	-
Commodities less food		172.226	-	176.286	0.8	2.4	-
Commodities less food & beverages		166.648	-	171.019	0.9	2.6	-
Durables		117.946	-	117.992	-0.5	0.0	-
Nondurables		287.417	-	295.498	2.6	2.8	-
Nondurables less food		226.024	-	236.134	2.3	4.5	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		220.184	-	231.909	2.7	5.3	-
Services		456.113	-	456.158	2.0	0.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(1)		473.612	-	468.706	1.5	-1.0	-
Services less medical care services		433.738	-	433.031	2.1	-0.2	-
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.