How This Inflation Calculator Works
The calculator uses the US Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. CPI-U tracks the average price of a fixed basket of goods and services — housing, food, transport, medical care and more — and is the most widely quoted measure of US inflation. Annual averages from 1913 to 2024 are built into the tool, so it works instantly and offline.
To find what an amount from one year is worth in another, the calculator scales it by the ratio of the two years’ CPI values:
Value in end year = Amount × (CPI end year ÷ CPI start year)Worked Example
The annual average CPI was 172.2 in 2000 and 314.0 in 2024. So $100 in 2000 had the same buying power as about $100 × 314.0 ÷ 172.2 ≈ $182 in 2024. Put the other way round, prices rose about 82% over those 24 years, an average of roughly 2.5% per year.
Reading the Results
- Total inflation: the overall percentage increase in prices between the two years.
- Average annual rate: the steady yearly rate that would produce the same total change, calculated like a compound growth rate.
- Purchasing power lost: how much less the original amount buys in the later year.
Practical Uses
- Compare salaries across years — a raise that is smaller than inflation is a pay cut in real terms.
- Put historical prices, rents or house prices into today’s dollars before comparing them.
- Check whether savings or investments actually grew in real terms after inflation.
- Adjust long-term plans: a retirement budget of $4,000 a month today will need far more in 25 years.
Limitations to Keep in Mind
CPI is an average for urban US consumers. Your personal inflation rate can differ a lot depending on where you live and what you spend on — for example, healthcare, rent and tuition have often risen faster than the overall index. Annual averages also smooth out month-to-month swings, so figures for a specific month may differ slightly from those published by the BLS.