Data
Data & downloads
Every number on Basket Report is downloadable. The full price history for the Basket Index and each of its 24 component items ships as both CSV and JSON, every file naming the exact BLS series ID it derives from and the date it was retrieved. There is no login, no rate limit, and no fee — the underlying data is a work of the U.S. government and in the public domain.
Machine-readable index
Building something on top of this? Start with /data/index.json
— a single self-describing manifest listing every series, its canonical page, its CSV and JSON URLs, its
BLS series ID, and the months it covers. Fetch it once to discover the whole catalogue rather than
hard-coding file paths; it regenerates with each monthly release, so the URLs and coverage dates stay
current.
- Index manifest: index.json — all 24 series + the derived datasets
- License: U.S. Government public-domain (usa.gov/government-works) — free to use, redistribute, and embed
The headline datasets
| Dataset | Page | Download |
|---|---|---|
| The Basket Indexderived | /basket/ | CSV · JSON |
| All items — current snapshot | /prices/ | CSV · JSON |
| Comparable basket by regionderived | /regions/ | CSV · JSON |
Datasets marked derived are Basket Report’s own analysis — computed from unaltered BLS prices, never a BLS figure relabelled. The per-item series below are the raw BLS average prices.
Item series & BLS series-ID map
The 24 component series, grouped as on the prices directory. Each is a BLS CPI Average Price (APU) series; the ID is the canonical key to look the same data up at the source. Files carry monthly observations back to 1980 where BLS has them.
Dairy & Eggs
| Item | Unit | BLS series ID | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butter, salted, grade AA | lb | APU0000FS1101 | CSV · JSON |
| Cheddar cheese, natural | lb | APU0000710212 | CSV · JSON |
| Eggs, grade A, large | dozen | APU0000708111 | CSV · JSON |
| Milk, whole, fortified | gallon | APU0000709112 | CSV · JSON |
Meat
| Item | Unit | BLS series ID | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bacon, sliced | lb | APU0000704111 | CSV · JSON |
| Chicken breast, boneless | lb | APU0000FF1101 | CSV · JSON |
| Chicken, fresh, whole | lb | APU0000706111 | CSV · JSON |
| Ground beef, 100% beef | lb | APU0000703112 | CSV · JSON |
| Ham, boneless, excluding canned | lb | APU0000704312 | CSV · JSON |
| Pork chops, center cut, bone-in | lb | APU0000704211 | CSV · JSON |
Produce
| Item | Unit | BLS series ID | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bananas | lb | APU0000711211 | CSV · JSON |
| Lemons | lb | APU0000711412 | CSV · JSON |
| Lettuce, iceberg | lb | APU0000712211 | CSV · JSON |
| Oranges, navel | lb | APU0000711311 | CSV · JSON |
| Potatoes, white | lb | APU0000712112 | CSV · JSON |
| Tomatoes, field grown | lb | APU0000712311 | CSV · JSON |
Pantry & Bakery
| Item | Unit | BLS series ID | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bread, white, pan | lb | APU0000702111 | CSV · JSON |
| Coffee, 100%, ground roast | lb | APU0000717311 | CSV · JSON |
| Flour, white, all purpose | lb | APU0000701111 | CSV · JSON |
| Rice, white, long grain, uncooked | lb | APU0000701312 | CSV · JSON |
| Spaghetti & macaroni | lb | APU0000701322 | CSV · JSON |
| Sugar, white, all sizes | lb | APU0000715211 | CSV · JSON |
Snacks
| Item | Unit | BLS series ID | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potato chips | 16 oz | APU0000718311 | CSV · JSON |
Drinks
| Item | Unit | BLS series ID | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange juice, frozen concentrate | 16 oz | APU0000713111 | CSV · JSON |
Using the data
CSV files open in any spreadsheet; the first two lines are comment rows naming the source and retrieval
date, followed by a date,price header. JSON files wrap the same history in a meta
object carrying the series ID and unit. Prices are in U.S. dollars at the national city average; where BLS
reported no value for a month, the value is left blank rather than estimated. For how the basket is built,
the fixed quantities, and the inflation adjustment, see the methodology.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI Average Price Data, retrieved 2026-06-21 via the BLS Public Data API. BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.