Editorial policy

What counts as a source

Only primary texts and data: the CPI files and publications of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the press releases and tables of the Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Code. News articles and other calculators can point us to a change; we publish it only once we have read the primary text.

How a figure reaches a page

Indexes are read by a script from the BLS files and frozen in a dated data file. Every other value (a release date, a COLA, a count of metros) is entered once in a parameter file, with its source and the date it was read. Pages compute their figures from those two files; nobody types a number into a page. When the data file is rebuilt after a release, every page changes at once.

Missing values are said, not filled

A month the BLS did not publish, for an area priced every other month or for October 2025, is shown as missing. Calculators use the nearest earlier published month and name it. We never interpolate, average two neighbors or estimate a missing month.

Future figures

A figure for a period not yet published (a CPI, a COLA, a weight) appears only once the body that sets it has published it. Before that, the page says it is to come and gives the scheduled date when there is one.

Independence

Radif Partners receives nothing from banks, insurers, landlords or employers, and is not affiliated with the BLS, the SSA or any agency. The site does not present itself as an official source.

Review and corrections

The data file is rebuilt after each monthly CPI release, and every page is reviewed at least every 12 months. A reported error is checked against the BLS file; if we were wrong, the page is corrected and dated. Write through the contact page.