Inflation Calculator
Enter an amount and two years to see how much it is worth after inflation, based on the US Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from 1913 to 2025.
Over the selected years
Annual inflation rates for the selected years
| Year | CPI-U | Inflation | Value |
|---|
Data source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U annual averages (1982–84 = 100); 2025 average based on available months. Results are estimates only, not financial advice. Prices of individual goods can rise faster or slower than the average.
How to use the Inflation Calculator
- Enter the amount of money you want to compare.
- Pick the starting year the amount is from, or tap a quick year button.
- Pick the year to compare with. Use the ⇄ button to swap the two years.
- Press Calculate (results also update as you type) to see the equivalent value, cumulative inflation and average yearly rate.
- Explore the chart and table to see how prices moved year by year, then press Copy to share the result.
How the inflation formula works
The Consumer Price Index measures how the price of a typical basket of goods and services changes over time. To adjust an amount for inflation, scale it by the change in the index:
value in end year = amount × CPI(end year) ÷ CPI(start year)
cumulative inflation = CPI(end) ÷ CPI(start) − 1
average annual inflation = (CPI(end) ÷ CPI(start))1 ÷ years − 1
Example: $100 in 2000 compared with 2025. The CPI-U was 172.2 in 2000 and 321.943 in 2025, so the value is 100 × 321.943 ÷ 172.2 = $186.96. Prices rose 321.943 ÷ 172.2 − 1 = 86.96% in total, and over 25 years that is an average of 1.86961/25 − 1 ≈ 2.53% a year.
What $100 from past years is worth in 2025
| Year | CPI-U | $100 then is worth in 2025 | Cumulative inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 20.0 | $1,609.71 | 1,509.7% |
| 1950 | 24.1 | $1,335.86 | 1,235.9% |
| 1970 | 38.8 | $829.75 | 729.8% |
| 1980 | 82.4 | $390.71 | 290.7% |
| 1990 | 130.7 | $246.32 | 146.3% |
| 2000 | 172.2 | $186.96 | 87.0% |
| 2010 | 218.056 | $147.64 | 47.6% |
| 2020 | 258.811 | $124.39 | 24.4% |
Notable periods of US inflation
| Period | What happened to prices |
|---|---|
| 1917–1920 | Prices nearly doubled between 1916 and 1920 during and after World War I. |
| 1929–1933 | Deflation in the Great Depression: the CPI fell about 24%. |
| 1946–1948 | Post-war jump after price controls ended, with inflation above 14% in 1947. |
| 1973–1981 | The "Great Inflation", driven by oil shocks, peaked at 13.5% in 1980. |
| 2009 | A rare year of slight deflation after the financial crisis. |
| 2021–2023 | Pandemic-era inflation reached 8.0% in 2022, the highest in four decades. |
Purchasing power and why it matters
Inflation steadily erodes what a fixed amount of money can buy. A salary, pension or savings balance that stays the same loses real value every year. Comparing amounts across years in today's money helps you judge whether a pay rise kept up with prices, what a historical price would cost now, or how much a long-term savings goal needs to grow. To see how investments can outpace inflation, compare the average rate above with the returns in a compound interest calculation.
Frequently asked questions
How does the inflation calculator work?
It multiplies your amount by the ratio of the Consumer Price Index in the two years: value = amount × CPI(end year) ÷ CPI(start year). The CPI tracks the average price of a basket of goods and services bought by urban consumers in the US.
How much is $100 from 2000 worth today?
Using the CPI-U annual averages, $100 in 2000 has the same buying power as about $186.96 in 2025, because the index rose from 172.2 to 321.943. That is cumulative inflation of about 87%, or roughly 2.5% a year.
What does cumulative inflation mean?
It is the total percentage increase in the price level between the two years. If cumulative inflation is 50%, something that cost $10 in the first year costs about $15 in the second year on average.
What is the average annual inflation rate?
It is the steady yearly rate that would produce the same total change, calculated as (CPI end ÷ CPI start) raised to the power 1 ÷ number of years, minus 1. Actual year-to-year inflation varies a lot, as the table shows.
Can I calculate backwards, from today to the past?
Yes. Choose a later start year and an earlier end year, or press the swap button. The calculator then shows how much an amount today would have been worth in the past year.
Why is 2025 marked as based on available months?
The 2025 annual average is computed from the monthly CPI figures available at the time the data was added, so it may change slightly once the full year is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Does this work for other currencies?
The currency symbol is just for display. The data is US CPI, so results reflect US inflation. Other countries have their own price indexes and inflation histories, so use this as a rough guide only.