Tampa inflation calculator: CPI-U since 2017

A short series on its own base

The BLS priced Tampa only twice a year until 2017 and publishes no monthly Tampa index before November 2017. For those years it publishes an annual average, back to 1987, and the calculator uses it for any month of the year, with a note that says so. For amounts older than 1987, the South region runs back to December 1966, and the national index to 1913.

The reference base is 1987=100. That is why the Tampa level, 315.64 in September 2026, cannot be set against the national 336.94: the two count from different starting points. Percent changes, on the other hand, compare fine, and that is all the calculator uses. Neither number says whether Tampa is cheaper or dearer than anywhere else.

Housing and the Tampa rate

Tampa's 12-month rate of +1.9 % ranks 22nd among the 23 metros, each on its own latest month. Housing is the group to look at first. The housing group moved -0.4 % and shelter +0.2 %, against +3.3 % and +3.2 % nationally. With shelter at 35.625 % of the national CPI-U weights, a local shelter index this far under the national one does a lot to slow the total.

Then the other groups. Transportation was +8.7 % (nation +7.9 %); a $500 monthly transportation budget from September 2025 would be $544 on the Tampa index. Medical care rose +3.0 %, apparel +4.7 %, energy +9.4 %. Other goods and services have gaps in the Tampa data; the latest 12-month change, for May 2026, is +11.1 %. Small samples make these group figures jumpy.

Tampa since 2019

The 12-month rate is only part of the picture. From the 2019 average to September 2026, Tampa prices rose 38.4 %, which ranks the area 1st of the 23 metros over that span. The fastest year in the Tampa data is 2022, at 10.3 %, when the nation posted 8.0 %; 2023 follows at 6.8 %. The slowest is 2009, at -0.1 %. With a series this short, these are records of the 2017 to 2026 window only.

Odd months and the 2025 lapse

The BLS prices Tampa in odd months. An August 2026 date uses July 2026. October was never a Tampa month, and the BLS shutdown FAQ says bimonthly odd series were not affected by the missing October 2025 data, so Tampa's 2025 annual average is built from its usual six values. The flip side of the odd rhythm: no December index, so no December to December change in the table below. Compare with Miami, an even-month index that lost October 2025, now at +3.7 %.