Inflation in NY outpaces national figures. It's the rent, tuition, child care...

Inflation in the New York metropolitan area is outpacing the national average, driven by housing and energy costs, according to new economic data out Tuesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Bruce Bergman, an economist at the bureau, said the Consumer Price Index for the New York City area was up 3.2%, compared to the national figure of 2.7%. He attributed the increase in large part to the rise in rent, which is up 4.7% in New York and the region compared to 3.9% nationally.

But Bergman said the cost of living in the city, although higher than the national average, has eased somewhat from the steep rates of change in recent years, when it was as high as 6% in 2022 and over 4% through much of last year.

“ Recently we have seen those shelter numbers come down a bit,” Bergman said of local housing costs, “but we're still at a point where it's still elevated compared to where it was prior to COVID.”

The figures came as economists and local policymakers continue to monitor the effects of the Trump administration’s tariffs on consumers. The data presented a mixed scenario, with “Core” CPI, which measures inflation without the more volatile costs of food and energy, rising at its fastest rate in five months.

Nonetheless, markets rose in the wake of the consumer price report.

The price of local energy rose 3.9%, significantly higher than the U.S. average, which fell 1.6%. This was despite a sharp drop (11.4%) in the price of gas at New York-area pumps. Bergman said the aggregate rise in energy costs was due to higher natural gas and electricity prices.

Rising education and child care costs also contributed to local inflation. Tuition and child care costs were up 5.9% in New York, outpacing the 3.5% increase nationally. The cost of groceries locally also played a role, rising 3.5% in New York but just 2.2% across the country.

In other areas, however, the cost of living rose less than it has elsewhere in the country.

The price of medical care, for instance, went up less than 2% locally, while increasing 3.5% nationally.

According to the city’s Economic Development Corporation, New York City has seen 22.5% inflation since pre-COVID times, marginally lower than the national rate, which has gone up 24%.

The agency said this places the city “in the middle of the pack” among cities nationwide, with a lower rate of inflation since pre-pandemic times than Miami, Atlanta and Dallas, but above the rate in Boston, San Francisco and Houston.

And the EDC pointed to forecasts from the city’s Office of Management and Budget, which anticipates that inflation in New York City would outpace the national rate in 2025, by 3.9% to 3.2%, as well as in 2026, by a rate of 2.8% locally and 2.6% nationally.