Consumer Price Index Housing Survey

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. Each month, BLS data collectors called economic assistants visit or call thousands of retail stores, service establishments, rental units, and doctors' offices, all over the United States to obtain information on the prices of the thousands of items used to track and measure price changes in the CPI. The collection of price data from rental units is essential for the timely and accurate calculation of the shelter component of the CPI. The CPI is then widely used as a measure of inflation, indicator of the effectiveness of government economic policy, deflator for other economic series and as a means of adjusting dollar values.

The latest form for Consumer Price Index Housing Survey expires 2022-05-31 and can be found here.