Grocery prices across metro Atlanta rose 1.5% between August and October, even as overall consumer prices increased just 0.1%.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Nov. 10 report covers the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metropolitan area. Its findings reflect regional price changes rather than household spending or prices in Sandy Springs alone.
Fruit and vegetable prices increased 4.2%, while meat, poultry, fish and eggs rose 1.5%. The category covering other grocery foods climbed 4.4%.
Some supermarket categories became less expensive. Cereals and bakery products fell 3.9%, and nonalcoholic beverages declined 1.3%. Dairy prices increased 0.6%.
Food purchased away from home—including restaurant, cafeteria and vending purchases—rose 1.4%.
Falling energy prices helped offset increases elsewhere. Energy costs declined 5.6% over the two months, with gasoline down 1.5%. Gasoline fell 6.2% between September and October but remained 31.5% above its October 2025 level.
The broader housing index decreased 0.6%, while shelter prices edged up 0.1%. Rent was unchanged over the two-month period. Owners’ equivalent rent, an estimate of the rental value of owner-occupied homes, increased 0.4%.
Apparel prices rose 4.3%, while used cars and trucks fell 1.7%.
A separate BLS compensation report released Nov. 3 found that private-sector wages and salaries grew 2.5% over the year ending in September in the broader Atlanta–Athens-Clarke County–Sandy Springs area. Total compensation, including benefits, increased 2.6%.
Nationally, wages rose 3.1% and total compensation grew 3.4%. Those annual figures cover a different period and geography from the two-month price changes, so they do not establish whether local wages kept pace with inflation.
Missing data also limits the annual inflation picture. A lapse in federal appropriations prevented October 2025 price collection, leaving BLS unable to calculate October 2026 annual changes for most local categories.
The metro figures are not seasonally adjusted. BLS also cautions that local indexes use smaller samples and can fluctuate more than national measures.
The next Atlanta-area CPI report, covering December, is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2027.
