{"data":{"id":"us/5-cfr-591.218","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"5 CFR 591.218","heading":"How does OPM compute price indexes?","body":"Except for shelter and energy utilities, OPM averages by item the prices collected in each survey area. For the Washington, DC, area, OPM computes a simple average for each item based on the average prices from each DC survey area. On an item-by-item basis, OPM divides the COLA survey area average price by the DC average price and produces a price index.","path":["Title 5—Administrative Personnel","CHAPTER I—OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT","SUBCHAPTER B—CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS","PART 591—ALLOWANCES AND DIFFERENTIALS","Subpart B—Cost-of-Living Allowance and Post Differential—Nonforeign Areas"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-5.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:23:53Z","sha256":"75abc82e83ba35b3a96782783b40971448944da302743ca1cadca155fbb82b35","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/5-cfr-591.217","next":"us/5-cfr-591.219"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}