Semiannual Average Consumer Price Index - First half of 2007
Character of Life

The Pittsburgh region has one of the lowest costs of living for any major metro area in the Northeast.

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 80 percent of the total population
2. a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which covers 32 percent of the total 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 that people buy for day-to-day living. Prices are collected in 85 urban areas across the country from about 57,000 housing units and approximately 19,000 retail establishments – department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, gasoline stations and other types of stores and services establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index. Prices of food, fuel and a few other items are obtained every month in all 85 locations. Prices of most other commodities and services are collected every month in the five largest geographic areas and every other month in other areas. Prices of most goods and services are obtained by either personal visits or telephone calls from the Bureau’s trained representatives. Some data, such as used car prices, are obtained from secondary sources.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics | Last Updated: August 29, 2007