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Inflation rose faster in the Northeast than in any other region of the U.S. over the past year, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Consumer prices rose 3.6% year-over-year in the Northeast region, higher than the national year-over-year inflation rate of 3.3%. The Northeast region includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The region with the next-highest annual inflation rate in March was the Midwest.

The U.S. war in Iran, and Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, strained global supplies of oil and gas, leading to a surge in prices at the pump. That drove much of the rise in inflation in all parts of the country, according to BLS.

But in the Northeast, gasoline prices rose slightly less compared to the U.S. as a whole for the year ending in March. Regionally, they were up 16.7% compared to the national surge of nearly 19% compared to a year ago.

Much of this price surge occurred during the first month of the Iran conflict. Gas prices in the Northeast rose 20.4% from February to March, and nationally 24.9%.

But the price of gas was only one component of inflation, albeit a major one, over the past year. In the Northeast, inflation was pushed higher than the national rate by food, energy and housing costs.

Energy prices in the region rose 13.5% since last March, higher than the 12.5% national increase. From February to March of this year alone, the sector saw prices rise 10.1%.

Housing costs in the Northeast were up 4.4% over the year ending in March. Year-over-year housing inflation was 3.4% nationally.

Fruit and vegetable prices also fueled the price increase in the region — produce costs rose 7.7% from March 2025 to March 2026. Nationally, fruits and vegetable costs were up 4% over the year.

These hikes drove overall food costs, which include produce, up 3.3% in the region and 2.7% nationally for the year.

Sasha is a data reporting fellow with The Connecticut Mirror. She graduated from the University of Maryland in May with a degree in journalism and a minor in creative writing. For the past year Sasha was working part time for the Herald-Mail, a newspaper based in Western Maryland. She was also a reporter and copy editor for Capital News Service, the university’s wire service where she covered the state legislature, the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, school board elections, youth mental health and climate change. Earlier in her college career, Sasha also interned at the Baltimore Magazine and wrote for numerous student publications including the Diamondback, the university’s independent, student-run newspaper.