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Consumer Price Index, CPI-U (CUSR0000SAH2) · Fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted

What is the consumer price index for fuels and utilities?

The consumer price index for fuels and utilities was 353.0 in the month ended , up 5.9% from a year earlier.

Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, each month

January 1953 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as published

Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, each month (January 1953 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 1953 to September 2026Ours, from the published values

Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 1953 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average353.0351.2333.5265.5232.0
Change over a year+5.9%+5.0%+5.9%+8.4%+1.3%

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Observed .

Right now

The consumer price index for fuels and utilities was 353.0 in September 2026, the highest since our record begins in January 1953.

Over a year it is up 5.9% (ours).

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month351.2 in +0.5%
Three months350.0 in +0.9%
Twelve months333.5 in +5.9%
Five years265.5 in +33.0%
Ten years232.0 in +52.2%

In historyOurs

The consumer price index for fuels and utilities of 353.0 in was higher than in 883 of the 883 other months since , the same in 0 and lower in 0.

Highest since : 353.0 in . Lowest since : 22.1 in .

AverageOurs

Average since : 123.88 (ours, a plain mean of the 884 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the consumer price index for fuels and utilities is up 5.9%, which ranks 3 of the 19 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the consumer price index for fuels and utilities beside the housing items on the housing inflation page, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Understanding the consumer price index for fuels and utilities

Where it stands today

The consumer price index for fuels and utilities was 353.0 in September 2026.

What does the consumer price index for fuels and utilities measure?

This is the consumer price index for fuels and utilities: one of the series of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes it each month, about two weeks after the month ends, and scales it so that the 1982-84 average is 100. It is seasonally adjusted: BLS removes the regular swings of the calendar year, so that one month can be set beside the next.

Read more

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, how the change over a year ranks among the housing items on the housing inflation page, and the history in one chart and one file.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the consumer price index for fuels and utilities in each month?The last ten years, 119 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 1953
Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (Index, 1982-84 = 100; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
353.0+5.9%
351.2+5.0%
351.0+4.9%
350.0+4.6%
352.4+6.0%
350.9+6.0%
346.1+5.5%
342.7+5.6%
340.9+6.2%
340.3+6.7%
337.6+6.5%
333.5+5.9%
334.5+6.9%
334.5+6.5%
334.6+6.7%
332.5+6.0%
331.0+5.4%
328.0+4.1%
324.4+3.4%
321.1+2.8%
319.1+3.4%
317.1+2.9%
317.0+3.6%
315.0+3.0%
Show 95 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
313.0+2.9%
314.1+4.1%
313.4+4.2%
313.7+4.6%
314.0+3.8%
315.1+3.3%
313.7+1.4%
312.4−0.6%
308.60.0%
308.2+0.3%
306.0−1.3%
305.8−1.6%
304.0−1.3%
301.6−0.7%
300.7−1.1%
299.8+0.8%
302.5+4.8%
305.0+7.3%
309.3+11.1%
314.2+13.2%
308.6+13.4%
307.4+13.1%
310.1+14.2%
310.7+17.0%
308.0+17.3%
303.6+16.7%
304.2+17.8%
297.3+15.5%
288.8+13.0%
284.3+12.5%
278.5+11.0%
277.6+11.9%
272.1+9.6%
271.8+10.0%
271.5+10.6%
265.5+8.4%
262.5+8.1%
260.2+7.2%
258.3+6.5%
257.3+6.4%
255.6+5.5%
252.8+4.2%
251.0+3.2%
248.1+1.9%
248.3+2.1%
247.0+1.7%
245.5+1.1%
245.0+1.2%
242.9+0.3%
242.8+0.1%
242.5+0.2%
241.9−0.3%
242.4−0.3%
242.7−0.2%
243.2+0.5%
243.5+0.4%
243.2−0.7%
242.9+0.4%
242.8+0.5%
242.1+0.7%
242.1+0.1%
242.5+0.7%
242.1+0.5%
242.5+0.3%
243.2+0.7%
243.2+0.7%
242.00.0%
242.5+1.2%
245.0+2.0%
241.9+1.1%
241.5+1.3%
240.4+0.7%
241.9+1.4%
240.8+1.1%
241.0+1.2%
241.8+1.8%
241.4+2.1%
241.6+3.1%
241.9+3.1%
239.7+2.7%
240.1+3.4%
239.2+3.0%
238.4+2.6%
238.8+2.9%
238.5+3.4%
238.3+3.8%
238.1+4.6%
237.5+4.5%
236.3+4.5%
234.4+3.9%
234.7+4.3%
233.4+3.5%
232.3+2.6%
232.2+1.8%
232.4+1.7%
How does it compare with the housing items on the housing inflation page?Ranked by the change over a year
Consumer price index for fuels and utilities, U.S. city average beside the housing items on the housing inflation page, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Fuel oil and other fuels519.7+43.8%1
Household energy296.6+6.2%2
Fuels and utilities353.0+5.9%3
Utility (piped) gas service267.6+5.0%4
Water, sewer and trash335.4+4.8%5
Energy services298.1+4.6%6
Electricity306.2+4.4%7
Lodging away from home194.2+4.4%7
Owners' equivalent rent445.3+3.3%9
Shelter431.9+3.2%10
Rent of primary residence450.4+2.8%11
Tools, hardware and outdoor117.0+2.2%12
Furnishings and operations156.0+1.6%13
Other household equipment56.3+1.3%14
Housekeeping supplies243.2+1.2%15
Furnishings and supplies108.5+0.2%16
Window and floor coverings60.1−0.8%17
Appliances84.1−1.0%18
Furniture and bedding131.7−2.4%19

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What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • The index measures the change of prices, not the prices themselves and not the dollars spent. Prices at a value of 150 are 50% above the 1982-84 average. The index of one item says nothing about how high its prices are compared with those of another item.
  • The values are seasonally adjusted, and BLS revises the adjusted values of the last five years each February, so a past value on this page can change. The change over 12 months that BLS headlines is worked out from values that are not seasonally adjusted, and can differ from the change on this page.
  • BLS did not collect prices for October 2025 because of the lapse in appropriations. Where BLS publishes no value for that month, the page has none and the chart shows a gap.
  • The index is shown to one decimal, but the changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes, which have three. A change is in percent, and can differ by 0.1 from one worked out from the values as shown.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Fuels and utilities, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What is the consumer price index for fuels and utilities?", https://500metrics.com/housing-inflation/fuels-and-utilities.

Can the data be downloaded?housing-inflation-fuels-and-utilities.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 884 rows, to , 16,236 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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