Philadelphia inflation calculator: CPI-U since 1914

An even-month area that lost October

October is one of Philadelphia's six months, so the 2025 lapse removed a full step from its calendar. The BLS shutdown FAQ says it carried forward all survey prices collected on the even-month schedule from August 2025 to October 2025, and that it would not publish two-month percent changes for December 2025 in these cities. The Philadelphia index therefore jumps from August 2025 to December 2025 with nothing in between: +0.8 % over those four months. The 2025 annual average is built from 5 published values instead of 6.

The effect is not over. The October 2026 index, part of the release of November 10, 2026, will have no 12-month change, because the BLS will not publish one where October 2025 is missing. If a Philadelphia contract adjusts on the October index, read its fallback clause, or see the October 2025 page for the options people use.

Four states in one index

The official area name lists Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland: the BLS prices goods and services across the whole Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metropolitan area and folds them into one number. The index runs from December 1914 on a 1982-84=100 base, and it now stands at 340.008. A Wilmington or Camden household that wants a local measure has this index or the Northeast region, which the BLS publishes every month.

What moves Philadelphia prices now

Start with energy. Its 12-month change of +24.4 % compares with +20.4 % for the nation, a faster rise than the country as a whole. A $250 monthly energy bill from September 2025 would be $311 on that index. Energy and food at home are priced monthly everywhere (BLS FAQ), which is why those groups carry a later month than the all-items index here.

Food at home is the second story: +3.7 % locally, above the national +1.8 %. Medical care, at +3.1 %, also ran ahead of the national +1.6 %. Shelter was +4.0 %. These local group series are noisy: the BLS warns that metro indexes carry substantially more sampling error than national ones, so a one-release surge in a small group tells you less than the all-items trend.

Philadelphia beside its neighbors

Over the same 12 months, Philadelphia ran above the Northeast region (+3.9 %) and below the New York area (+4.3 %). The New York page has the monthly series for the larger neighbor.

Highs and lows since 1914

The record year is 1917, with annual average prices up 21.3 %. The deepest drop came in 1921, at -11.2 %. Since 2000 the top is 2022, at 7.9 %, against 8.0 % nationally that year. Even-month areas also have a December index, so the December to December change is published: 3.9 % for 2025.