Inflation and the economy · Calculator

Real inflation
calculator.

Official CPIConsumer Price Index (CPI)The government's measure of how much a typical basket of consumer goods costs over time.Full definition shows prices are up ~87% since 2000 (BLS CPI-U annual averages, 2000 to 2025). Compare changes by spending category to estimate the effect on your budget.

The question it answersWhat does my old budget actually cost today, by spending category?

Rules: United States. Data: BLS CPI-U annual averages, 2000 to 2025. Privacy: runs in your browser. What you enter stays on your device.

Your $3,000/month in 2010 costs
$4,554
per month today
You need $1,554 more per month to maintain the same lifestyle
Category Then Now Increase
What this tool assumes
  • Official CPI is computed from BLS CPI-U annual averages (series CUUR0000SA0), stamped into this page at build time from the site's data pipeline. 2000 to 2025 works out to about +87%.
  • Category rows use BLS CPI-U sub-index annual averages, cumulative from 2000: shelter (CUUR0000SAH1) for Housing, food at home (CUUR0000SAF11) for Food, medical care (CUUR0000SAM) for Healthcare, college tuition and fees (CUUR0000SEEB01) for Education, energy (CUUR0000SA0E), and transportation (CUUR0000SAT).
  • Every comparison ends at the 2025 annual average; years between the 5-year anchor points are linearly interpolated.

Historical, not a forecast. This replays past data. It does not predict what happens next.

Category figures are BLS CPI-U sub-index annual averages; series IDs are listed in the assumptions above. Spending profiles are illustrative averages.

HOW THIS IS CALCULATED

This tool runs entirely in your browser: no data is sent to any server. The assumptions and default values behind the result are listed under “What this tool assumes” on this page. Verify the methodology or inspect the source code in your browser's dev tools.

Where to go from here

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Calculators are educational estimates, not financial advice. Disclosures · How pages are reviewed