Is inflation slowing?

The inflation rate since 1914

The inflation rate is how much consumer prices changed from the same month a year earlier. It was 3.7% in September 2026, 3.4% in August 2026 and 2.9% in August 2025. It peaked at 23.7% in June 1920, 14.8% in March 1980 and 9.1% in June 2022.

Slowing inflation means prices are rising more slowly, not that they are falling: prices fall only when the rate is below zero, as in 1921 and the early 1930s.

• How fast are US prices rising? →
• Each month's inflation report in charts →

Which prices are rising fastest

Prices don't all move together. In the 12 months to September 2026, gasoline (34.2%), airline fares (22.4%) and coffee (7.1%) changed the most, and car insurance (-5%) and eggs (-20.6%) were at the other end; all prices together changed 3.7%.

A dozen grade A large eggs averaged $2.27 in September 2026, regular gas $4.31 a gallon in October 2026, and car insurance prices changed -5% in the 12 months to September 2026.

• Which everyday prices rose the most over the past year? →
• How much does a dozen eggs cost in the US? →
• How much has a gallon of gas cost in the US since 1990? →
• How fast is car insurance getting more expensive? →

Rent

Rent is a big part of many budgets, and it moves slowly, because most leases last a year. Rent prices changed 2.8% in the 12 months to September 2026, below the 8.8% of March 2023.

• How fast is rent going up in the US? →
• Which states have the cheapest rent? →

How far prices have risen

Even when inflation slows, prices stay higher than before. Consumer prices in September 2026 were 100% higher than in January 2000 and 34 times their level of January 1913, when the index begins.

• How much have US consumer prices risen since 1913? →
• What an amount from any year is worth today →

What these numbers can and can't tell you

These figures are the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted, the measure most news reports quote. The Federal Reserve's 2% goal is set on a different measure, the price index for personal consumption expenditures, which usually runs a little lower.

BLS collected no prices in October 2025, during a lapse in federal funding, so that month, and the yearly changes that would compare with it, are missing.

When BLS publishes a new month, the charts update themselves, and so does every number on this page.

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, all items) (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026, in these charts:

• How fast are US prices rising?
• How much have US consumer prices risen since 1913?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026, in these charts:

• Which everyday prices rose the most over the past year?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (rent of primary residence) (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026, in these charts:

• How fast is rent going up in the US?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (motor vehicle insurance) (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026, in these charts:

• How fast is car insurance getting more expensive?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI Average Price Data (eggs, grade A, large) (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of September 30, 2026, in these charts:

• How much does a dozen eggs cost in the US?

U.S. Energy Information Administration, Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update (Public domain (U.S. government work)), data as of October 31, 2026, in these charts:

• How much has a gallon of gas cost in the US since 1990?