Inflation calculator

Inflation is measured by tracking the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services over time. The Consumer Price Index expresses that cost as a number relative to a base period — for CPI-U, the 1982–84 average is set to 100.

value in year B = amount × (CPI of B ÷ CPI of A)

What the number does and does not tell you

CPI describes an average urban household. Your own inflation rate depends on what you actually buy: someone with a fixed mortgage and no car experienced the 2021–22 spike very differently from a renter who commutes. Healthcare and education have consistently outpaced the index; consumer electronics have consistently fallen behind it.

Deflation is rarer than people think

Prices fell meaningfully in the early 1930s and briefly in 2009. Otherwise the index has risen every year since 1913 — a dollar has lost over 96% of its purchasing power across that span.

Comparing salaries across decades

This is the right tool for “was my grandfather's $8,000 salary good?” — but wages are not prices. Real median household income has risen faster than CPI over the long run, so an inflation-adjusted historical salary usually understates the standard of living gap in both directions.