How CrowdCPI Works
You're not imagining it. Shoppers across the country are paying more than the government's numbers suggest. Here's how we track the gap — and how you can help.
What We Track
CrowdCPI tracks the most widely purchased grocery staples and utility costs — items that every American household buys regularly and whose prices are felt immediately. Each product has a standardized unit of measure so that submissions from different store types are directly comparable.
- Butter, Salted (per pound)
- Chicken Breast, Boneless Skinless (per pound)
- Eggs, Grade A Large (per dozen)
- Electricity (per kWh)
- Gasoline, Regular Unleaded (per gallon)
- Ground Beef, 80/20 (per pound)
- Milk, Whole (per gallon)
- White Bread, Sandwich (per pound)
Where the Government Data Comes From
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) surveys a sample of retailers every month and publishes average retail prices for standardized products. These are the official figures used in CPI calculations and economic reporting. The BLS data is rigorous and well-documented — but it reflects a national sample average, not your store, your ZIP code, or the specific week you were shopping.
We pull BLS data every month on the 15th using the BLS public API. The data is free and public. You can find the original series data at bls.gov.
Where the Shopper Data Comes From
Shoppers like you submit what they actually paid at the register — the price on the receipt, at any store, in any ZIP code, on any day. No account required. No email. The submission takes less than 30 seconds.
We ask for: the item, the price you paid, your ZIP code, and optionally where you shopped. That's it. A receipt photo is optional — but submissions backed by a receipt are weighted more heavily in the data because they're harder to fake.
How Submissions Are Verified
Every submission passes through an automated quality check before entering the database. The check confirms that the price is within a plausible range for that product (for example, eggs can't be $0.01 or $900). Prices that fall outside the plausible range for the unit of measure are flagged and reviewed — they don't automatically appear in the chart.
We require a minimum of 30 submissions for a given product and time period before we display the shopper line on the chart. Below that threshold, we show only the government's official data and note that more reports are needed. This prevents small samples from creating misleading gaps.
What the Gap Means
The gap between the government's price and what shoppers report reflects several real factors: geographic variation (prices in rural Idaho are different from Manhattan), store type variation (warehouse clubs vs. convenience stores), the lag between BLS sampling and actual current prices, and potentially prices that are genuinely higher than the national average suggests.
CrowdCPI does not claim the government's data is wrong. We show two different measurements of the same thing — the BLS national sample average, and what real shoppers submitted from their actual receipts. The gap between those two measurements is the product.
Data Quality
- Submissions are rate-limited by IP address to prevent bulk submissions from inflating the average.
- Unusual reports are flagged by the automated quality check and reviewed before inclusion.
- Receipt-backed submissions receive a higher confidence weight in aggregate calculations.
- The national average is displayed when regional submissions are insufficient; when regional data is available, both are shown.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the government report a different price than what I pay?
The BLS average is a national sample across many store types and geographic areas. Your local store, in your neighborhood, at the time you were shopping, may be higher or lower than that average. Both numbers are real — they measure different things.
How do I submit a price?
Go to the submit page. Pick the item, enter what you paid, enter your ZIP code, and optionally note where you shopped. Takes about 30 seconds. No account, no email, no tracking.
How often is the data updated?
BLS official prices update on the 15th of each month. Shopper submissions update the aggregates continuously — any approved submission is reflected in the next aggregate computation, which runs daily.
Can I see prices in my specific city?
Yes — the Your area page shows submission data filtered to your ZIP code or state. State-level views require at least 20 submissions from that state to display.
Who runs CrowdCPI?
CrowdCPI is an independent project. We have no affiliation with the BLS, any government agency, or any food or retail company. Contact: [email protected]
Questions or press inquiries: [email protected]