West Coast Cities Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)

A complete source packet for this Performance Portland measure: current value, official scale, history, narrative notes, context, and links.

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Official values

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Latest

3.0%

2025

First shown

1.3%

2015

Change shown

1.7%

Within visible history

Full source history

Every cached ClearImpact row for this measure.

Period	Actual	Target	Trend
2025	3.0%	—	1
2024	2.4%	—	-1
2023	3.3%	—	-1
2022	7.6%	—	1
2021	6.0%	—	1
2020	1.6%	—	-1
2019	2.9%	—	-1
2018	3.9%	—	1
2017	3.1%	—	1
2016	1.8%	—	1
2015	1.3%	—	0

Narrative Tabs

Official Performance Portland notes

Why Is This Important?

The West Coast Cities Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) tracks the average change in prices for goods and services purchased by people who work in urban areas in the West Coast Census area. It shows how much more these urban workers have to spend over time on essentials like food, housing, and healthcare. The CPI-W is a measure of inflation. For city governments, tracking the CPI-W is important for adjusting benefits, setting budget priorities, and planning for economic challenges. It helps ensure financial planning keeps up with inflation and guides decision-making.

What Do The Numbers Show?

The numbers show the West Coast CPI-W spiked in 2021 and 2022, during the Covid-19 pandemic. This spike also happened nationally. The six and seven percent seen in 2021 and 2022 were higher than the City had seen in over 30 years and put considerable strain on both consumer and City finances. In the last few years CPI has decelerated to more normal levels. It is normal for the costs of goods and services to rise overtime in a healthy economic environment, and the Federal Reserve has a target inflation rate of two percent. The City of Portland utilizes the CPI-W for the West Coast Census area because Bureau of Labor Statistics stopped tracking the Portland Metro’s CPI in 2018.

How Did We Arrive at These Numbers?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics generates a monthly CPI-W number and the City Budget Office takes that information and calculates an average rate of change for the year.