 Non-farm consumers living in rural areas within MSAs are included, but the index excludes rural consumers and the military and institutional population.The consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) introduced in 1978 is representative of the buying habits of approximately 80 percent of the non-institutional population of the United States, compared with 32 percent represented in the CPI-W.The methodology for producing the index is the same for both populations.