Inflation Calculator: What Is Your Money Worth?

Prices rise almost every year, which means the same dollar buys a little less each year. This inflation calculator uses the government's Consumer Price Index to show exactly how much less a dollar is worth, for any two years since 1913. A second tab projects what today's prices will look like in 10, 20 or 30 years at whatever rate you choose.

If the concept is new to you, our explainer on what inflation is and how it's measured is a good place to start.

Inflation Calculator

How To Use The Inflation Calculator

There are two main tabs:

Historical tab

Amount. Any dollar figure: a salary, a house price, a tuition bill, the $20 your grandfather says was a fortune.

Starting year and ending year. The year the amount is from, and the year you want to convert it to. Pick a later ending year to see what the amount is worth today; pick an earlier one to see what today's dollars would have been worth back then. The "Swap years" button flips them.

The current year is labeled with the latest month of CPI data available.

Project Forward tab

Amount today. What something costs now.

Assumed annual inflation. The rate you expect going forward. Nobody knows this, so the preset buttons give you actual CPI averages over the last 10, 25 and 50 years plus the Federal Reserve's 2% target. Run a low case and a high case.

Years. How far out to project.

Understanding Your Results

Cumulative inflation is the total price increase between the two years. Average per year is the same change expressed as an annual rate, which is what you'll want when comparing to a savings yield or investment return. Price multiple is how many times higher prices are; a multiple of 2.0 means the dollar buys half as much.

The CPI-U figures shown are the index values themselves (1982–84 = 100). The table lists each year's index, the inflation rate for that year, and what your amount would have been worth in every year in between.

On the projection tab, future cost is what today's price becomes, and buying power is the reverse: what today's dollars will purchase after inflation has done its work.

Where The Data Comes From

The historical tab uses the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's the series behind the BLS's own inflation calculator and the headline inflation number in the news. (Social Security cost-of-living adjustments use a related series, CPI-W.)

Full years use the annual average index. The current year uses the most recent monthly reading, and the results tell you which month. BLS publishes CPI around the middle of each month for the prior month, and we update the calculator after each release.

What Inflation Does To Your Money

Inflation is why a candy bar that cost a nickel in the 1950s costs well over a dollar now. Prices overall have risen roughly eightfold since 1972. The compounding is what catches people off guard: 3% a year sounds small, but over 25 years it cuts the buying power of a dollar in half.

Two groups feel it most. Savers holding cash lose ground quietly every year the account yield trails inflation, which is why parking long-term money in a checking account is a slow loss. And anyone planning decades ahead, for retirement or a child's college, has to plan in future dollars rather than today's.

College costs are the sharp end of this. Tuition has risen faster than overall CPI for decades; J.P. Morgan's research puts the increase at 914% since 1983, and our piece on why college is so expensive looks at the causes. If you're saving for a child, use the projection tab with a rate above general inflation and pair it with our figures on the average cost of college.

How To Protect Your Money From Inflation

The only reliable defense is to earn more than inflation over time. Over long periods stocks have done that comfortably; our table of historical returns by asset class shows the gap. For money that has to stay safe, two Treasury products are built for the job: Series I savings bonds, whose rate resets with CPI every six months, and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, covered in our piece on the best investments for inflationary periods.

Whatever you hold, judge it by the real return. A 7% return with 3% inflation is a 4% real return, and that's the number that decides what you'll be able to buy. Our compound interest calculator lets you run either figure.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate inflation between two years?

Divide the CPI for the later year by the CPI for the earlier year. That ratio is the price multiple; subtract 1 for the cumulative inflation rate. Multiply any dollar amount by the ratio to convert it. The calculator does this with official annual averages.

What data does this calculator use?

BLS CPI-U, all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, from 1913 through the latest monthly release.

Why does my result differ from another inflation calculator?

Some tools use a specific month rather than the annual average, some use CPI-W, and some round differently. The differences are usually under a percent.

What is a "good" inflation rate?

The Federal Reserve targets 2% a year as the level consistent with stable prices and a healthy economy. Sustained inflation well above that erodes savings; deflation (falling prices) tends to accompany recessions.

What was the highest inflation in U.S. history?

In the CPI-U series, 1917 and 1918 (both around 17–18%) and 1920 (about 16%) were the highest annual readings, followed by 1947 (about 14%). More recently, 2022's 8% average was the highest since 1981.

How much will $100 be worth in 10 years?

At 2.5% inflation, $100 today buys what about $78 will buy in 10 years; put another way, you'd need about $128 to buy what $100 buys now. Use the projection tab to test other rates.