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Consumer Price Index & Cost of Living

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), issued monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is defined by the BLS as “a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.” A cost-of-living index “measures differences in the price of goods and services, and allows for substitutions to other items as prices change.”

For more information on the CPI and how it is calculated, see the BLS Consumer Price Index home page and the BLS Handbook of Methods.

ACCRA Cost of Living Index
Comparative data for 298 urban areas.
Dewey Library - Reference | HB235.U6.C58 (Quarterly)

American Cost of Living Survey
A compilation of reported prices for nearly 600 products and services in 443 cities in the U.S., drawn from more than 70 sources. Data for 1988–2001.
Dewey Library - Stacks | HD6983.A67

BLS Consumer Price Index Page
Includes basic CPI data back to 1913.

Business Statistics of the United States
CPI data back to 1946.
Dewey Library - Stacks | HC101.A13122 (latest on Reference)

Continues these publications from the U.S. Department of Commerce:

• Survey of Current Business. Annual Supplement (1931-1932)
  Dewey Library - Stacks | HC101.A1312
• Survey of Current Business. Supplement (1936-1942).
  Dewey Library - Stacks | HC101.A1312
• Statistical Supplement to the Survey of Current Business (1947-1949)
  Dewey Library - Stacks | HC101.A1312
• Business Statistics (1955-1991)
  Dewey Library - Stacks | HC101.A13122

CPI Hotline: 617-565-2325
Follow the prompts to “frequently requested data” for the latest CPI for the nation and the Boston area.

Datamasters Salary/Cost-of-Living Data
Regional comparisons of salary level for management and professional positions; cost-of-living calculator for city-by-city comparison.

Geographic Reference Report. Annual Report of Costs, Wages, Salaries, and Human Resource Statistics, U.S. and Canada
Cost of living, salaries, and other data by metropolitan area.
Dewey Library - Stacks | HD6983.G38 (latest on Reference)

International Financial Statistics
Time series data on consumer prices for most countries from the International Monetary Fund.

The Value of a Dollar: Colonial Era to the Civil War, 1600-1865.
The Value of a Dollar: Prices and Incomes in the United States, 1860-2004.
Data on consumer expenditures, investments, income, prices.
Dewey Library - Reference | HB235.U6.V35 and HB235.U6.V353