Minneapolis-St. Paul inflation calculator: CPI-U since 1917

Thirty years priced twice a year

The Minneapolis-St. Paul index opens in December 1917, on a 1982-84=100 base, but its monthly record is not continuous. The BLS publishes no monthly Minneapolis index between December 1986 and November 2017, about 31 years when the area was priced only twice a year. For those years it publishes an annual average, and the calculator uses it for any month you pick, with a note that says so. If you need a month-precise figure for those years, the Midwest region or the national index, both monthly, is the cleaner choice.

The spending groups start even later: the shelter series begins in December 2017 and apparel in November 2017. If you want to apply a Minneapolis group to an amount from before then, you will have to use the national group index.

Apparel and medical care

Apparel rose +9.4 % over 12 months in the Minneapolis data, faster than the +3.4 % national change. A $150 clothing purchase from September 2024 would be $170 on that index today. Apparel is a small, seasonal group, and the BLS warns that local indexes carry more sampling error, so read it as a signal, not a verdict.

Medical care was -2.5 % against +1.5 % for the nation. Education and communication was +6.2 %. Shelter, the largest item, was +3.7 % (nation +3.2 %), and energy +16.6 % (nation +20.4 %). Core prices, all items less food and energy, rose +3.1 %.

Odd months, and why October 2025 did not touch it

Minneapolis is priced in January, March, May, July, September and November. Pick June 2026 and the calculator uses May 2026; pick December and it uses November. The BLS shutdown FAQ is explicit that bimonthly odd series were not affected by the missing October 2025 data: their annual averages are computed as usual. Minneapolis therefore has a full six-month 2025 average, and its November 2025 index sits next to September as normal. There is a price for the odd rhythm, though: with no December index, the table below shows no December to December change for this area.

Minneapolis against the Midwest

Over the latest 12 months, Minneapolis ran below the Midwest (+4.2 %) and below the nation (+3.7 %). The Chicago index is the only Midwest metro index priced every month.

Record years

The fastest year in the series is 1920, at 16.3 %; the steepest fall is 1921, at -10.2 %. Since the series resumed, the top year is 2022, at 7.5 %, against 8.0 % nationally.