Monthly
Index (no units)
1983 - 2025
Jan 1, 1983 to Dec 1, 2025
FRED
2 days ago
FreshJan 13, 2026
Median Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of core inflation calculated the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Ohio State University. Median CPI was created as a different way to get a 'Core CPI' measure, or a better measure of underlying inflation trends. To calculate the Median CPI, the Cleveland Fed analyzes the median price change of the goods and services published by the BLS. The median price change is the price change that's right in the middle of the long list of all of the price changes. This series excludes 49.5% of the CPI components with the highest and lowest one-month price changes from each tail of the price-change distribution resulting in a Median CPI Inflation Estimate. According to research from the Cleveland Fed, the Median CPI provides a better signal of the inflation trend than either the all-items CPI or the CPI excluding food and energy. According to newer research done at the Cleveland Fed, the Median CPI is even better at PCE inflation in the near and longer term than the core PCE. For further information, visit The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (https://www.clevelandfed.org/indicators-and-data/median-cpi#background).
As of December 1, 2025 • Monthly data • Source: FRED
This dataset contains 516 monthly observations, over 42 years, 11 months, updated monthly from FRED, It of core inflation calculated the federal reserve bank of cleveland and the ohio state university. View Methodology
Data Points
516
Coverage
42 years, 11 months
Updates
monthly