How Often Is CPI Calculated? Monthly Cycle and Revisions

The Consumer Price Index is calculated and released once a month at the national level. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes each monthly report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, roughly two to three weeks after the reference month ends.¹ Regional and local indexes come out less frequently, on cycles that range from monthly to semi-annual depending on the area.

The Monthly National Release

Every month, the BLS publishes a national CPI report covering the prior month’s price data. Release dates typically fall 10 to 13 business days after the reference month closes, and the time is always 8:30 a.m. Eastern.¹ December 2025 data, for example, was released on January 13, 2026.

The schedule is set in advance so markets, agencies, and businesses know when to expect the numbers. Here are the 2026 release dates:¹

January data: February 13, 2026
February data: March 11, 2026
March data: April 10, 2026
April data: May 12, 2026
May data: June 10, 2026
June data: July 14, 2026
July data: August 12, 2026
August data: September 11, 2026
September data: October 14, 2026
October data: November 10, 2026
November data: December 10, 2026

Three National Indexes on the Same Monthly Cycle

Each monthly release contains three national indexes, all calculated from the same underlying price data but built for different uses:

CPI-U, the broadest measure, covering about 93 percent of the U.S. population.²
CPI-W, a narrower version covering urban wage earners and clerical workers. Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are tied to this one.³
C-CPI-U, the Chained CPI, which accounts for how consumers shift purchases when prices change. The IRS uses it to adjust federal income tax brackets.⁴

All three appear on the same monthly release schedule, though the Chained CPI’s initial figure is preliminary and gets revised, which is covered further down.

Regional and Local Indexes Aren’t Monthly

If you are looking for CPI figures for a specific metropolitan area, the monthly cadence often does not apply. The BLS publishes monthly indexes for the four Census regions, nine Census divisions, and a limited number of large metro areas.⁵ Most other metro areas run on a bimonthly cycle, and some smaller areas receive only semi-annual updates.

Philadelphia, Detroit, and Houston, for instance, are priced on even-numbered months, while Boston, Dallas, and Denver are priced on odd-numbered months.⁶ These local figures are produced as byproducts of the national CPI program rather than as independent surveys, and the component detail available is more limited than the national data. Anyone using a local CPI for a lease or business calculation should confirm which cycle covers their area, because the data can lag the national figure by up to two months.

How Prices Get Collected Across the Month

The monthly release is not built from a single snapshot day. BLS data collectors visit or contact thousands of retail stores, service providers, rental units, and medical offices, recording about 80,000 prices spread across the month.⁶ Gathering prices throughout the month, rather than on a fixed day, gives the index a broader read on market activity and reduces distortion from short-lived sales.⁵

Not everything is priced every month in every place. Food, energy, and a few other categories are priced monthly nationwide. In the three largest metros — New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago — most other goods and services are also priced every month. Elsewhere, those remaining items are priced every other month, assigned to either even- or odd-numbered months.⁶

Housing Runs on a Six-Month Cycle

Housing is the largest single component of the CPI, and its rent data is collected on a different schedule than everything else. Each sampled housing unit is surveyed once every six months. The BLS splits its housing sample into six panels, each assigned to a pair of months. Panel 1 is priced in January and July, Panel 2 in February and August, and so on through Panel 6 in June and December.⁷

Because many rents stay locked during a lease, collecting less often lets the BLS survey a much larger sample. The agency then converts each six-month price change into a one-month figure using the sixth root of the six-month change.⁸ That converted figure feeds into every monthly national index, so the headline number remains monthly even though the underlying housing data is not.

Revisions After Release

Once a CPI-U or CPI-W number is out, it stands. The BLS does not revise those two indexes.

The Chained CPI-U works differently. Its formula needs spending-pattern data that takes time to compile, so the BLS first issues a preliminary value, then publishes three interim revisions before releasing the final figure 10 to 12 months after the initial release.⁹ Anyone quoting a C-CPI-U figure should note whether it is preliminary or final.

Seasonal adjustment factors are recalculated once a year, released with the January CPI data every February. Each annual recalculation revises seasonally adjusted indexes for the prior five years. The factors published on February 13, 2026 covered January 2021 through December 2025.¹⁰ If you track seasonally adjusted CPI over time, older figures in your records can shift slightly after each February update. The unadjusted numbers do not change.

1
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Schedule of Releases for the Consumer Price Index
2
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Handbook of Methods Consumer Price Index Design
3
Social Security Administration. CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1 – Tax Imposed
5
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index Overview
6
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index About Questions and Answers
7
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. CPI Rent and Owners Equivalent Rent (OER) Questions and Answers
8
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Measuring Price Change in the CPI: Rent and Rental Equivalence
9
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Frequently Asked Questions about the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U)
10
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index Methods Seasonal Adjustment