Northeast region inflation calculator: CPI-U since 1966
The CPI-U for the Northeast region, published by the BLS every month since December 1966. Choose an amount and two dates.
Value in September 2026
$195.97
$100.00 in 2000 average buys what $195.97 buys in September 2026, Northeast.
| Cumulative price change | +96.0 % |
| Average per year | +2.60 % |
| Index, 2000 average | 179.4 |
| Index, September 2026 | 351.57 |
| U.S. average over the same dates | $195.67 (+95.7 %) |
| BLS series | CUUR0100SA0 |
Prepared by Radif Partners · How the figures are built · BLS series CUUR0100SA0, priced every month
Consumer prices in the Northeast region rose 4.2 % over the 12 months to September 2026, faster than the U.S. city average at 3.7 %. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes this index every month, not seasonally adjusted, on the base 1982-84=100, and has done so since December 1966. It covers urban consumers in the New England and Middle Atlantic census divisions, which include the metro areas the BLS also publishes on their own: Boston, New York, Philadelphia. Shelter in the region moved +4.1 % over the latest 12 months and energy +23.1 %. Since the 1967 annual average, $100 has needed $1,034 to keep pace with Northeast prices, against $1,009 on the national index. For a contract tied to a place in the Northeast that is not one of those metros, the BLS points users to the regional or national index rather than a local one, because local indexes carry more sampling error.
The index the BLS suggests for a clause
A lease or a service contract for a town in the region that is not one of the three metros below has no local CPI to name. The BLS is direct about the choice: local indexes have "a much smaller sample size" and are "more volatile", so it urges users "to consider adopting the national or regional CPIs for use in escalator clauses" (BLS CPI questions and answers). The Northeast index is that regional option. It comes out every month, so every anniversary date has a value, and it is final when published, since the not seasonally adjusted CPI-U is not revised later. The BLS also recommends indexes that are not seasonally adjusted for escalation, which is the version this site uses.
The BLS series code is CUUR0100SA0. If a clause names the Northeast CPI-U for all items, that is the series to quote.
Three metros inside the region
The region is a weighted average of all the urban areas sampled in the Northeast, not of its metros alone. Three of them have their own published index, on three different calendars:
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH: in odd months, +3.8 % over the 12 months to September 2026.
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA: every month, +4.5 % over the 12 months to September 2026.
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: in even months, +4.2 % over the 12 months to August 2026.
Mixing them in a single comparison is awkward because their latest months differ. The regional index avoids the problem: one value per month, for the whole area.
Compare the Northeast with another area
Since the 2015 average
2.7 points
| Northeast, $1,000 becomes | $1,394 (September 2026) |
| U.S. average, $1,000 becomes | $1,422 (September 2026) |
| Per year, Northeast | +3.01 % |
| Per year, U.S. average | +3.19 % |
What has moved Northeast prices lately
Over the latest 12 months the region ran faster than the nation. Shelter was +4.1 % here against +3.2 % nationally, energy +23.1 % against +20.4 %, and medical care +1.0 %. Core prices, without food and energy, were +3.1 %. Groups are published for the region from January 1997; before that only the all items index exists.
Six decades of regional data
The first annual change the region can show is for 1968. Its fastest year since then was 1980, at 12.9 %. Its slowest was 2015, at -0.1 %, a year in which the regional price level fell. Over the whole span, the ratio of today's index to the 1967 average is 10.34, against 10.09 for the U.S. city average: an average of 4.02 % a year in the region and 3.98 % in the nation.
The October 2025 gap
Because the region is monthly, it lost a month in the 2025 lapse in appropriations: there is no October 2025 Northeast index, and there will be no 12-month change for October 2026. Its 2025 annual average rests on 11 months. A clause with an October anniversary needs a written rule for that month; the October 2025 page explains what is missing and why.
Northeast CPI by spending group
| Index | Level | Latest month | 12-month change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All items | 351.57 | September 2026 | +4.2 % |
| Housing | 390.01 | September 2026 | +4.7 % |
| Shelter | 476.944 | September 2026 | +4.1 % |
| Food and beverages | 349.333 | September 2026 | +2.3 % |
| Food at home | 324.216 | September 2026 | +1.6 % |
| Energy | 351.322 | September 2026 | +23.1 % |
| Transportation | 290.439 | September 2026 | +7.9 % |
| Medical care | 594.422 | September 2026 | +1.0 % |
| Apparel | 141.948 | September 2026 | +1.7 % |
| Recreation | 150.143 | September 2026 | +2.8 % |
| Education and communication | 165.659 | September 2026 | +3.7 % |
| Other goods and services | 655.302 | September 2026 | +3.1 % |
| All items less food and energy | 359.448 | September 2026 | +3.1 % |
Northeast inflation by year
| Year | Annual average | Change | December to December |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 334.618 | +3.2 % | +3.3 % |
| 2024 | 324.397 | +3.4 % | +3.5 % |
| 2023 | 313.786 | +3.5 % | +2.6 % |
| 2022 | 303.32 | +7.0 % | +6.1 % |
| 2021 | 283.557 | +3.9 % | +5.9 % |
| 2020 | 272.908 | +1.3 % | +1.4 % |
| 2019 | 269.392 | +1.6 % | +1.9 % |
| 2018 | 265.139 | +2.2 % | +1.7 % |
| 2017 | 259.538 | +1.8 % | +1.7 % |
| 2016 | 254.85 | +1.1 % | +1.9 % |
| 2015 | 252.185 | -0.1 % | +0.5 % |
| 2014 | 252.463 | +1.4 % | +0.4 % |
| 2013 | 249.038 | +1.4 % | +1.3 % |
| 2012 | 245.698 | +2.0 % | +1.8 % |
| 2011 | 240.997 | +3.0 % | +2.9 % |
| 2010 | 233.868 | +2.0 % | +1.6 % |