Inflation Calculator
Find how purchasing power has changed using historical CPI data
About this tool
This free inflation calculator uses historical US Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to show how the purchasing power of money has changed between any two years from 1913 to 2024. Enter an amount and two years — it shows you the equivalent value adjusted for cumulative inflation.
The CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers) measures the average change over time in prices paid by urban consumers for a basket of goods and services including food, housing, apparel, transportation, healthcare, and education. When the CPI rises, each dollar buys less — that is inflation. When it falls (deflation), each dollar buys more, though sustained deflation is historically rare in the US.
Historical context makes inflation tangible: $100 in 1950 had the purchasing power of roughly $1,200 today. The 1970s saw some of the highest inflation rates in US history, peaking at 14.8% in 1980 before the Federal Reserve raised interest rates sharply to bring it under control. More recently, post-pandemic supply chain disruptions pushed inflation to a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022.
This tool is useful for historical research, comparing salaries across decades, understanding the real return on investments, and illustrating the long-term cost of inflation to students or readers. Because all data is baked into the page, it works instantly and offline.