Houston inflation calculator: CPI-U since 1914

The CPI-U for Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, published in even months. Pick an amount and two dates; for a missing month the calculator names the index it used.

U.S. average, a metro area, a region or a city-size class

Value in August 2026

$183.10

$100.00 in 2000 average buys what $183.10 buys in August 2026, Houston.

Cumulative price change+83.1 %
Average per year+2.34 %
Index, 2000 average154.2
Index, August 2026282.338
U.S. average over the same dates$194.53 (+94.5 %)
BLS seriesCUURS37BSA0
How this is computed

Prepared by Radif Partners · How the figures are built · BLS series CUURS37BSA0, priced in even months

The Houston CPI-U rose 1.3 % over the 12 months to August 2026, below the 3.4 % of the U.S. city average and below the 3.1 % of the South region for the same months. The BLS publishes this index for Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, in February, April, June, August, October and December, on a 1982-84=100 base, with a history that starts in December 1914. Shelter, the largest weight in the national basket, moved -0.1 % over its latest year, against +3.2 % nationally. Energy was +17.3 %. Because October is a Houston month, the 2025 lapse in appropriations cost it a full data point: there is no October 2025 index, no two-month change for December 2025, and the 2025 annual average rests on 5 indexes. Since the 2021 average, $1,000 has needed $1,181 on Houston prices, $1,236 on the national index.

Houston and the October that never came

Areas priced every month lost one index out of twelve in 2025. Houston, priced only in even months, lost one out of six. The BLS collected no prices from October 1, 2025 to November 12, 2025, so October 2025 is a blank in the Houston series. Inside its computation, the BLS carried forward survey prices collected on the even-month schedule from August 2025 to October 2025. December 2025 was then published (277.453, against 278.771 in August), but without the usual two-month change.

The gap returns in the October 2026 release, due on November 10, 2026. The BLS will not publish a 12-month change for October 2026 where October 2025 is missing, so Houston will have an index level for that month but no official year-over-year rate. The calculator here does the same: for an October 2025 date, it takes August 2025 and says so.

Shelter barely moved

Houston shelter changed -0.1 % over the 12 months to September 2026, slower than the +3.2 % national shelter rate. That matters because shelter is about a third of the national basket: core prices, all items less food and energy, came out at -0.2 %. Food at home was +0.9 % and medical care +1.6 %, while other goods and services reached +6.0 %.

A few Houston groups update in odd months too. The BLS prices food at home and energy every month in every area, so their latest Houston figures reach September 2026 while the all-items index stops at August 2026.

Did a Houston salary keep up?

Same buying power in August 2026

$64,980

Raise needed to keep up$9,980
In percent+18.1 %
Monthly, same buying power$5,415
Open the full calculator →

Houston, Dallas and the South

Dallas-Fort Worth, priced in odd months, showed 3.0 % to September 2026, which puts Houston below its Texas neighbor on the latest readings. The South region, priced every month, gives a smoother line; the South page has it. The BLS itself warns that local indexes carry more sampling error than regional ones, which is one reason two Texas metros can drift apart.

A series that starts in 1914

No local index starts earlier than Houston, in December 1914. Its steepest annual rise was 22.8 % in 1917, and its deepest fall -11.5 % in 1932. Since 1950, the record is 13.3 %, set in 1979.

Choosing an index for a Houston contract

If you write an escalation clause, name the series in full: CPI-U, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, all items, not seasonally adjusted, 1982-84=100. With an even-month index, also say what happens in odd months and, now, what happens when a month such as October 2025 is missing. The cost-of-living adjustment page covers the usual wording.

Houston CPI by spending group

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, CPI-U not seasonally adjusted. All items: base 1982-84=100; each group keeps the base period of its own BLS series, so compare the changes, not the levels.
IndexLevelLatest month12-month change
All items282.338August 2026+1.3 %
Housing278.162August 2026+0.3 %
Shelter334.413September 2026-0.1 %
Food and beverages316.038August 2026+1.9 %
Food at home304.893September 2026+0.9 %
Energy245.629September 2026+17.3 %
Transportation244.293August 2026+3.0 %
Medical care567.472August 2026+1.6 %
Apparel199.514August 2026+2.9 %
Recreation136.419August 2026+3.1 %
Education and communication113.293August 2026-3.8 %
Other goods and services529.696August 2026+6.0 %
All items less food and energy285.868August 2026-0.2 %

Houston inflation by year

Annual averages published by the BLS. The 2025 average leaves out the missing October.
YearAnnual averageChangeDecember to December
2025277.742+1.3 %+1.6 %
2024274.201+2.5 %+1.0 %
2023267.607+3.5 %+4.5 %
2022258.66+8.2 %+5.3 %
2021238.975+4.3 %+6.6 %
2020229.161+0.2 %+0.7 %
2019228.799+1.3 %+1.0 %
2018225.927+2.4 %+2.3 %
2017220.657+2.0 %+1.7 %
2016216.414+1.6 %+2.3 %
2015213.039-0.2 %+0.4 %
2014213.365+2.8 %+1.1 %
2013207.574+1.6 %+3.6 %
2012204.213+1.9 %+1.0 %
2011200.495+3.3 %+3.1 %
2010194.172+1.9 %+1.9 %

Questions people ask

How much have prices gone up in Houston?

1.3 % over the 12 months to August 2026 on the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land CPI-U. Over a longer stretch, prices are up 18.1 % since the 2021 annual average, against 23.6 % for the U.S. city average. The calculator above gives the figure for any two months since 1914.

Why is there no October 2025 CPI for Houston?

The federal lapse in appropriations stopped price collection from October 1, 2025 to November 12, 2025, and the BLS could not collect October prices afterwards. Houston is priced in even months, so October was one of its six months. December 2025 was published without a two-month change, and the 2025 average uses five indexes.

Which months is the Houston CPI published?

February, April, June, August, October and December. The all-items index for Houston comes out with the national release of each of those months. Food at home and energy are priced monthly, so some of their local figures also appear in odd months. For an odd month, the calculator uses the previous Houston index.

Should a Houston lease use the Houston CPI or the South region?

That is a choice for the parties and their lawyer. The BLS urges users to consider national or regional indexes for escalator clauses, because local ones have smaller samples and move more. The South region is published every month; the Houston index is closer to local prices but only every other month.

Keep going

Dallas-Fort Worth inflation

+3.0 % over the 12 months to September 2026, from the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX CPI-U.

South region inflation

+3.4 % over the 12 months to September 2026, from the South region CPI-U.

October 2025 CPI

The month the BLS never published, why, and what it changes for calculators, contracts and the 2026 figures.

Rent inflation

Shelter, rent and owners' equivalent rent in the CPI: the heaviest item, by metro, and what October 2025 did to it.

Cost-of-living adjustment

Apply the 2027 Social Security COLA or the CPI of your area to a pay, a rent or a benefit, and choose the right index.

Official sources for this page

Prepared by

Independent publisher of inflation calculators built month by month from the CPI-U indexes of the 23 metro areas, 4 regions and 2 city-size classes

Indexes last loaded on · Editorial policy · Contact

Results apply the published CPI indexes to the amount you type. An index tracks the average prices paid by urban consumers in an area, not your own budget, and it does not compare price levels between cities. A month the BLS did not publish is never filled in: the calculator names the index it uses instead.

Indexes through September 2026, BLS files read on