Inflation (CPI) under every president, month by month
At month 21 in office, Trump II is at 3.7%: #5 of 10 administrations (average 4.5%). Official Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
Every administration at month 21
| Rank | Administration | Value at month 21 | Change since month 1 | Latest / end of month 48 | Primary federal source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Barack Obama | 1.1% | +1.2 pts | 1.8% (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #2 | George W. Bush | 1.5% | −2.2 pts | 3.3% (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #3 | Donald Trump (first term) | 2.3% | −0.2 pts | 1.3% (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #4 | Bill Clinton | 3.0% | −0.3 pts | 3.4% (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #5 | Donald Trump (second term) · in office | 3.7% | +0.7 pts | 3.7% (month 21) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #6 | Ronald Reagan | 4.9% | −6.8 pts | 4.0% (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #7 | Richard Nixon | 5.7% | +1.0 pts | 3.4% (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #8 | George H. W. Bush | 6.2% | +1.7 pts | 3.0% (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #9 | Joe Biden | 8.2% | +6.8 pts | 2.9% (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #10 | Jimmy Carter | 8.5% | +3.3 pts | 12.3% (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
Methodology and source verification
Year-over-year % change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), seasonally adjusted. Lower ranks better.
Every administration is aligned to its own inauguration: month 1 is the month it took office, and the comparison runs to month 48 (the first term). Each administration is compared at the same month in office, so a president halfway through a term is never measured against another's full four years.
Primary source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), series CPIAUCSL, refreshed hourly. Latest observation 2026-09-01, first published 2026-10-14. Full methods: methodology.