Prices in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.6 percent for the two months ending in August 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the all items less food and energy index rose 0.7 percent, largely driven by advances in the indexes for shelter and medical care. The food index was up 1.1 percent in July and August, while the energy index was down 2.2 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 1.7 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.2 percent over the year, while food prices increased 2.6 percent. Energy prices declined 6.8 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, August 2021–August 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Aug 2021	5.3	3.5
Oct 2021	6.1	3.7
Dec 2021	6.6	4.9
Feb 2022	7.8	6.5
Apr 2022	8.5	6.9
Jun 2022	10.2	6.0
Aug 2022	9.5	7.0
Oct 2022	7.6	6.9
Dec 2022	5.3	5.2
Feb 2023	5.2	5.4
Apr 2023	4.0	5.3
Jun 2023	1.7	5.4
Aug 2023	2.7	4.5
Oct 2023	3.0	3.9
Dec 2023	4.5	5.2
Feb 2024	3.5	3.7
Apr 2024	2.9	2.7
Jun 2024	2.1	1.8
Aug 2024	1.7	2.2

Food prices advanced 1.1 percent for the two months ending in August. Prices for food at home (grocery store prices) rose 1.3 percent, and prices for food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria, and vending purchases) were up 0.8 percent for the same period. The rise in the index for food at home was led by increases in the indexes for cereals and bakery products (+5.0 percent) and other food at home (+1.4 percent).

Over the year, food prices rose 2.6 percent, led by the food away from home index (+3.5 percent). Prices for food at home advanced 1.4 percent, with the index for fruits and vegetables (+7.7 percent) contributing most to the over-the-year increase.

The energy index was down 2.2 percent for the two months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-5.1 percent), but declining prices for gasoline (-0.5 percent) and natural gas service also contributed.

From August 2023 to August 2024, the energy index declined 6.8 percent, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-11.8 percent) and electricity (-3.8 percent). Natural gas service prices rose 3.4 percent over the year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (+0.8 percent), medical care (+1.2 percent), and public transportation were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-1.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.2 percent. Components contributing most to the increase included shelter (+3.5 percent), education and communication (+2.4 percent), and apparel (+3.1 percent). Price decreases in the indexes for used cars and trucks (-11.4 percent) and motor vehicle maintenance and repair partly offset these increases.

The October 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 13, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.

The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 retail establishments—department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. NOTE: Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, Core Based Statistical Area includes the counties of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.