Inflation and the economy · Calculator

What is your money really worth?
Measure the erosion.

See how much purchasing power a dollar amount has lost (or gained) between any two years.

The question it answersHow much has a dollar amount lost or gained in value between two years?

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Enter an amount and year range to see the result.
How this is calculated

This calculator loads annual averages from /data/cpi.json: CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (1982–84 = 100). For an independent check use the exact monthly CPIAUCNS series and the BLS annual tables. Match annual average to annual average; a monthly year-over-year rate compares a month with the same month a year earlier and is not an annual-average change.[1][2][3]

equivalent = amount × (CPIend / CPIstart)

The displayed percentage is cumulative price change: (CPI_end / CPI_start − 1) × 100. It is not an annual rate or the percentage of purchasing power lost. Fixed-dollar purchasing-power loss is (1 − CPI_start / CPI_end) × 100. Illustrative indexes 100 to 125 mean prices rose 25%, while an unchanged dollar amount buys 20% less. The start and end years must be stated. CPI is an average basket, not a personal spending forecast.[1]

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

Where to go from here

Read next

Purchasing Power

A dollar in 1971 buys 13 cents today. The 87% erosion in a single lifetime.

Explore further
  • What Caused InflationDemand-pull, cost-push, monetary, and asset-price inflation.
  • Real Inflation CalculatorConverts a budget from a past base year into today's dollars using official CPI and category-level breakdowns like housing, food, and healthcare.
  • Dollar Since BirthEnter your birth year to see cumulative dollar purchasing power lost, sourced from BLS CPI, plus the same span in Bitcoin.

Sources

Bracketed numbers in the text link to these sources. Figures, rates and rules change: check each source’s date before acting on it.

  1. Consumer Price Index Frequently Asked Questions : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ↩
  2. Historical CPI-U ↩
  3. Summary of annual and semi-annual indexes : Mid–Atlantic Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ↩

Last updated . Calculators are educational estimates, not financial advice. Verify · Pairs with /inflation-types/ · Disclosures · How pages are reviewed