Tools · Inflation 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 says prices are up ~87% since 2000 (BLS CPI-U annual averages, 2000 to 2025). Your actual costs tell a different story. This tool breaks down what your budget really costs today by category.

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.

Related

→ Purchasing Power Loss → M2 Money Supply

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. All formulas use standard financial math. Verify the methodology or inspect the source code in your browser's dev tools.