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Inflation Rate Now: What Got Pricier in the October 2026 CPI, and Your Own Rate
Prices rose 0.4% in October. Type in what you spend and see what the same things cost you a year ago.
CheckedNov. 102026
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Your own inflation rate
Type what you spend in a typical month on any line. Each change is the government’s number for September 2025 to September 2026, the latest full year it could measure.
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The short answer
Consumer prices rose 0.4% in October 2026, after 0.6% in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Nov. 10. Both numbers are seasonally adjusted.
This time there’s no official yearly rate. The BLS didn’t collect prices in October 2025, during the government shutdown, so it has nothing to compare October 2026 with.
The latest full year: prices were up 3.7% from September 2025 to September 2026 (our math from the BLS index). The biggest mover is gasoline, up 37.4% from October 2025, one of the few yearly changes the BLS could publish. Eggs went the other way: a dozen averaged $2.32 in October, about a third less than a year earlier.
At a glance
- Latest report
- October 2026 CPI, released Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026
- October
- +0.4% (seasonally adjusted); +0.2% before adjustment
- Over a year
- +3.7%, September 2025 to September 2026 (no yearly figure for October)
- Without food and energy
- +0.3% in October, the third month in a row
- Biggest jump
- Gasoline: +37.4% from October 2025; regular averaged $4.45 a gallon, against $3.24
- Biggest drop
- Eggs: $2.32 a dozen in October, against $3.49 in September 2025
- Next report
- November CPI, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. ET
- Last checked
- Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, against the sources at the end of this page
What got more expensive, and what got cheaper
Here’s how much prices changed over the latest full year the BLS could measure, September 2025 to September 2026, for the things most households pay for. The numbers are the same ones the calculator above uses.
| What you pay for | Change in a year |
|---|---|
| Gasoline | +34.2% |
| Internet service | +28.4% |
| Airfare | +22.4% |
| Coffee | +7.1% |
| Beef | +5.4% |
| Natural gas | +5.0% |
| Water, sewer and trash | +4.8% |
| Electricity | +4.4% |
| Personal care | +3.7% |
| Eating out | +3.5% |
| Clothing | +3.4% |
| Cellphone plan | +3.2% |
| Child care | +3.1% |
| Rent | +2.8% |
| Doctor and hospital bills | +2.5% |
| Pets and pet supplies | +2.2% |
| Groceries | +1.8% |
| New cars | +0.6% |
| Used cars and trucks | −1.5% |
| Prescription drugs | −4.5% |
| Car insurance | −5.0% |
| Eggs | −20.6% |
| All items (the inflation rate) | +3.7% |
Gas did most of the damage. It rose 34.2% in that stretch and 37.4% from October to October. Airfare, which follows fuel, was up 22.4%.
The surprise on the list is internet service, up 28.4%. On the other side, car insurance fell 5% and prescription drugs 4.5%, after years of increases.
Groceries as a whole rose just 1.8%, below the overall rate: coffee (+7.1%) and beef (+5.4%) went up, eggs (−20.6%) came down.
What things cost now
The BLS also tracks the average price of everyday items in U.S. cities. October 2025 prices are missing here too, except for gas, so the change column compares September with September.
| Item | October 2026 | Sept. 2025 | Change, Sept. to Sept. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs, grade A large, dozen | $2.32 | $3.49 | −34.9% |
| Gasoline, regular, gallon | $4.45 | $3.34 | +34.2% |
| Ground beef, 100% beef, pound | $6.75 | $6.32 | +7.4% |
| Coffee, ground, pound | $9.25 | $9.14 | +2.1% |
| Butter, stick, pound | $3.98 | $4.79 | −17.3% |
| Bacon, sliced, pound | $6.69 | $7.29 | −7.3% |
| Chicken breast, boneless, pound | $4.10 | $4.17 | +0.7% |
| Cheddar cheese, pound | $6.13 | $6.05 | +1.4% |
| Milk, whole, gallon | $4.10 | $4.13 | −0.6% |
| White bread, pound | $1.86 | $1.87 | −2.0% |
| Tomatoes, pound | $2.08 | $1.91 | +4.3% |
| Bananas, pound | $0.66 | $0.67 | −2.1% |
| Electricity, kilowatt-hour | 19.0¢ | 18.8¢ | +4.3% |
| Natural gas, therm | $1.69 | $1.61 | +5.4% |
Gas is the one with a true October comparison: $4.45 a gallon for regular, against $3.24 in October 2025. That’s about $18 more for a 15-gallon tank (our arithmetic).
The egg price above is for grade A large only, which fell faster than the BLS index for all eggs (−20.6%).
These are national averages. Your store, your state and your brand will differ.
Why there’s no yearly number for October
The government shut down in October 2025, and the BLS didn’t collect prices that month. For most items it never published an October 2025 index.
A yearly rate needs the same month a year earlier, so for October 2026 the BLS skipped it. Only a few items, gasoline, new and used cars among them, had October 2025 numbers.
That’s why this page uses September to September for the full year. It’s the freshest 12 months anyone can measure.
The November report, on Thursday, Dec. 10, should be cleaner: the BLS database already has November 2025 numbers for most items.
Why your rate isn’t the government’s
The 3.7% is an average of how all urban households spend. Yours is weighted by your own bills.
- You drive a lot: gas is up by a third, so your rate is likely well above 3.7%.
- You rent: rent rose 2.8%, below average, and it’s the biggest line for most renters.
- You own with a fixed-rate mortgage: your payment didn’t change. Leave it out of the calculator.
- You fly often or pay for home internet: both are up more than 20%.
Fill in only the lines that matter to you. A line left blank doesn’t count.
What this means for your money
Social Security checks rise 3.6% in January; the dates are in our Social Security payment schedule. The IRS has already moved the 2027 tax brackets up for inflation, and our winter heating calculator covers the season’s gas, electric and oil bills.
3:22How we figured it
We took the BLS index values for each category, U.S. city average and not seasonally adjusted, the version the BLS says matters to people who pay the prices. The yearly change is September 2026 divided by September 2025.
The calculator works backward: for each line, what you spend now divided by one plus that line’s change is what the same things cost a year earlier. The difference, added up, is your extra cost; your total now against your total then is your rate.
What we don't know yet
- The official 12-month change for October 2026 for most items. The BLS says it can’t publish it.
- Prices in your own city or state. The BLS publishes separate indexes for 23 metro areas and four regions, not for every state.
When any of this is confirmed, it goes into the page and the update history below.
Questions people ask
What is the inflation rate right now?
Prices rose 3.7% from September 2025 to September 2026, the latest full year the BLS could measure. In October 2026 alone they rose 0.4%, seasonally adjusted. There’s no official yearly rate for October because the BLS didn’t collect prices in October 2025.
What was the October 2026 CPI?
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.4% in October 2026, seasonally adjusted, after 0.6% in September. Before adjustment it rose 0.2%, to an index level of 337.511. Without food and energy, prices rose 0.3%.
Why is there no yearly inflation number for October 2026?
Because there’s no October 2025 to compare with. The BLS didn’t collect survey data in October 2025 during the lapse in federal funding, so for most items it can’t publish a 12-month change for October 2026.
How much have gas prices gone up?
Gasoline prices rose 37.4% from October 2025 to October 2026, according to the BLS. Regular averaged $4.45 a gallon in October 2026, against $3.24 a year earlier.
Are egg prices going down?
Yes. A dozen grade A large eggs averaged $2.32 in October 2026 in BLS data, against $3.49 in September 2025. The BLS price index for all eggs fell 20.6% from September 2025 to September 2026.
When is the next CPI report?
The November 2026 CPI comes out Thursday, Dec. 10, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
How do I figure my own inflation rate?
Add up what you spend in a month on each kind of bill, then apply each one’s yearly price change: what you pay now, divided by one plus the change, is what the same things cost a year earlier. Our calculator does it for 18 kinds of spending using BLS numbers.
