Find out what your money is really worth
Pick an amount and two years. You'll see what it equals in the other year's dollars, using official U.S. CPI data from 1913 to 2026. It's the fastest way to see how much buying power cash quietly loses.
- Free, no sign-up
- Bureau of Labor Statistics data
- Instant results
How it works
Three inputs, one honest answer
The calculator compares the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in two years. CPI tracks what a typical basket of goods costs, so the ratio tells you how far a dollar goes.
- 1
Enter an amount
A salary, a price you remember, a savings balance. Any dollar figure works. - 2
Pick the two years
Start year is when that amount applied. End year is the year you want to compare it to, usually today. - 3
Read the answer
You'll see the same buying power in end-year dollars, plus total inflation and the average yearly rate in between.
Inflation calculator
Results update as you change the inputs.
The amount as it was in the start year.
The year your dollar amount comes from.
The year you want to compare to. It can be earlier than the start year too.
Data: CPI-U annual averages, Bureau of Labor Statistics (1913–2024). 2025–2026 are estimates at about 2.5% a year.
$100.00 in 2000 has the same buying power as
$181.77
in 2024 dollars
Total inflation
+81.77%
Avg. yearly rate
+2.52%
Buying power change
-44.99%
Years measured
24
Prices rose +81.77% over 24 years, so $100.00 in 2000 buys about what $181.77 does in 2024.
Your results, explained
How to read your results
Here's what each number is telling you.
- The big number
- What you'd need in the end year to buy the same stuff your amount bought in the start year. If your pay or savings haven't kept up with it, you've lost ground.
- Total inflation
- How much prices rose overall between the two years. A red number means things got more expensive.
- Avg. yearly rate
- The steady yearly rate that gets you from one price level to the other. Use it as a yardstick: money sitting in cash earning less than this lost buying power every year.
- Buying power change
- How much less (or more) one dollar from the start year buys in the end year. Negative means each dollar buys less.
This is an educational tool, not financial advice. CPI is a national average, so your personal inflation rate can be higher or lower depending on where you live and what you spend on.
Inflation, explained
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) measures the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of goods and services. Published monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is the most widely used measure of inflation in the United States.
The CPI uses a base period of 1982-1984, which equals 100. A CPI of 313 means that prices have roughly tripled since that base period.
This calculator uses the ratio of CPI values between two years to determine equivalent purchasing power. The formula is straightforward:
If the CPI doubles between two dates, it means the general price level doubled, so you need twice as many dollars to buy the same basket of goods.
Purchasing power refers to the quantity of goods and services a unit of currency can buy. As prices rise due to inflation, purchasing power decreases. A dollar in 1980 could buy far more than a dollar today.
Purchasing power matters for retirement planning, salary negotiations, and evaluating long-term financial contracts. It helps answer the question: how much will my money really be worth in the future?
Annual inflation measures price changes over a single year, while cumulative inflation shows the total change over a multi-year period. Even a modest 3% annual inflation rate compounds significantly over decades.
At 3% annual inflation, prices approximately double every 24 years. At 2% inflation, it takes about 36 years for prices to double. This compounding effect is why long-term financial planning must account for inflation.
The CPI tracks price changes for food, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education, and communication. It covers about 93% of the U.S. population.
However, CPI does not capture every individual's experience of inflation. It does not include investment returns, income taxes, or the prices of items like stocks and bonds. Individual spending patterns differ, so personal inflation rates may vary from the official CPI.
U.S. inflation has varied dramatically over the past century. The post-World War I period saw sharp spikes, followed by deflation during the Great Depression. The 1970s saw sustained high inflation, topping 13% a year around 1979 and 1980.
The Federal Reserve has targeted approximately 2% annual inflation since the early 2000s. The post-pandemic period of 2021-2023 saw elevated inflation before beginning to moderate toward that target.
- Comparing salaries across different time periods
- Understanding the real return on investments after inflation
- Evaluating historical prices in today's dollars
- Planning retirement savings and projected expenses
- Negotiating cost-of-living adjustments in contracts
- Educational and research purposes for economic analysis