San Diego's inflation rate goes up again. What costs are going up?
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego's inflation rate went up again in May, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The bureau's Consumer Price Index reported the inflation rate in San Diego, which encompasses all of the county, was 3.8% in May, the highest in the nation. It also had the highest inflation in March, tied at 3.8% with New York.
More than 160 affordable housing units opened at old Mission Valley hotel
People saw prices go up across most areas, but the expenditures that saw the highest percentages of change in the past two months included dairy and related products (up 2.4%), transportation (2%) and medical care (2.2%).
From May 2024 to May 2025, the areas that saw the biggest gains were transportation (2.5%), medical care (3.7%), housing (4.9%), dining out (6.9%) and tuition, school fees and child care (8.7%).
This comes after a recent report using data collected by Child Care Aware showed the costs associated with child care were more expensive for families than those spent on housing in the state of California in 2024.
Meanwhile, the cost of motor fuel went down 8% from the same month last year. In fact, the inflation rate has gone down about 1% between April and May.
Another area that saw a significant decrease between May of 2024 and this past May was the cost of apparel (-7.6%).
Cereals and baked goods also saw lower inflation rates compared to May of last year and month-over-month between April and May of this year.
The full Consumer Price Index dataset can be found here.
The nationwide inflation rate was just 0.1% in May.
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