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Review of the 2018 Consumer Price Index Geographic Revision

Steven P. Paben, William H. Johnson, and John F. Schlip

Abstract

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) estimates the change in prices over time of the goods and services U.S. consumers buy for day-to-day living based on price quotes selected from multi-stage probability samples. The first stage being the selection of geographic areas. Every ten years the CPI updates its sample of geographic areas based on the latest Decennial Census to ensure the sample accurately reflects shifts in the United States population. This paper describes CPI’s latest area redesign that will be used starting with 2018 indexes. Topics include area definitional changes, stratification, sample selection, and implementation issues.