Inflation Calculator
Official US government price data from 1913 to 2025. Beyond converting money between years, this one answers the question people really have: did my pay rise actually beat rising prices, or am I just standing still?
$100 in 2000 would be
-
- Prices rose in total by
- 0%
- Which is per year
- 0%
- What $1 then is worth now
- $0
- Years apart
- 0
What that money was worth, year by year
The same amount of money, shown in each year's prices.
Where the money goes
The split shows how much of the total is $1 then is worth now and how much is years apart.
Move it and watch
-
at {v} for amount of money
And what you can change
Why your own figure may differ
Decade by decade
The same amount of money measured against several past years at once, so you can see how the gap widens the further back you go.
| Year | Worth today | Prices rose | Per year |
|---|
Inflation and buying power: real examples
Three questions people actually come here to answer. Click any card to load it.
- Checking a pay rise
Pay went from $50,000 to $55,000 over five years
It looks like a $5,000 rise. Prices moved too.
You needed about $62,197 just to stand still, so $55,000 is going backwards. A rise that trails prices is a pay cut in slow motion.
Load this scenario in the calculator → - Grandparent maths
What $1 in 1913 is worth now
The oldest year the official data covers.
Over a century, a single dollar turns into more than thirty. It is the clearest picture of what slow, steady price rises do given enough time.
Load this scenario in the calculator → - Planning ahead
What $50,000 will buy in twenty years
Money kept somewhere it does not grow.
At a modest 2.5% a year you would need roughly $82,000 in twenty years to buy what $50,000 buys today. Standing still costs money.
Load this scenario in the calculator →
Common questions about inflation and buying power
Where do these numbers come from?
Straight from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics - the government body that measures prices. We use the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, which covers 1913 to 2025, pulled from their public data feed rather than typed in by hand. The exact series and the date we checked it are recorded on the page.
Did my pay rise actually beat inflation?
That is the question most people really mean, and most inflation calculators do not answer it. Put your old pay and your new pay into the second box and this tool tells you whether you are genuinely better off or just standing still. A rise that matches inflation is not a rise - it is treading water.
What does "buying power" mean?
How much stuff your money actually buys. If prices double and your money stays the same, your buying power has halved - the notes in your pocket are identical, but they get you half as much. This is why money sitting still is quietly losing value.
Why does the calculator show a yearly rate as well as a total?
"Prices rose 87%" sounds alarming. Then you learn it took 25 years. That is about 2.5% a year. The yearly figure is the fair way to compare two different stretches of time.
Is the most recent year complete?
Not yet. The full-year average is only published once the year ends. For 2026 we show the most recent monthly reading (July 2026) and label it as part-year, so you are never comparing a complete year against an incomplete one without knowing.
Why does my own experience feel worse than these numbers?
The index is an average across everything people buy. Food, housing, travel, health care and more. What you buy is different. If most of your money goes on rent and groceries and those rose faster than average, your personal inflation was higher than the headline figure. The number here is a national average, not your life.