Inflation Calculator — See How Inflation Affects Your Money
Compare historical prices, purchasing power, salary changes, and future costs with U.S. CPI-U data from 1913 and clearly labeled projections through 2030.
U.S. historical purchasing power
Convert an amount between calendar years using annual-average, not seasonally adjusted CPI-U from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Years 2026-2030 are clearly labeled projections compounded at 2.5% annually.
Future cost and purchasing-power projection
Apply your own constant annual inflation assumption. This mode does not present the entered rate as an official forecast.
Personal basket and real income comparison
Compare how the cost of your own recurring basket changed against income over the same period.
Inflation-adjusted equivalent value
Calculation breakdown
Year-by-year CPI conversion
Historical CPI conversion
The historical result multiplies the entered amount by the ratio of the destination year's annual-average CPI-U to the starting year's CPI-U. It supports forward and reverse comparisons from 1913 through 2030; values after 2025 are projections at 2.5% annually.
Future inflation assumptions
Future mode compounds the rate you enter once per year. Actual inflation changes over time, so use several rates to test a range rather than treating one projection as a prediction.
Personal inflation and income
A household's spending mix can differ from the CPI market basket. Personal mode measures the change in a consistent basket, then divides nominal income growth by basket inflation to estimate real income change.
Annual averages versus monthly CPI
Annual-average CPI smooths the 12 monthly index values and does not represent a particular month. A December-to-December calculation can differ from an annual-average comparison.
Inflation calculator formulas
| Metric | Formula |
|---|---|
| Historical equivalent value | Amount x destination CPI / starting CPI |
| Cumulative inflation | (destination CPI / starting CPI - 1) x 100 |
| Annualized inflation | (price multiplier^(1 / years) - 1) x 100 |
| Future cost | Amount x (1 + annual rate)^years |
| Purchasing power | Amount / (1 + annual rate)^years |
| Real income change | ((current income / earlier income) / basket multiplier - 1) x 100 |
Frequently asked questions
What CPI series does the historical calculator use?
It uses annual-average Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted. The index measures average price change, not the exact experience of every household.
Why can my personal inflation rate differ from CPI?
Your location and spending weights may differ from the national market basket. Housing, food, medical care, and transportation can move at different rates.
Can inflation be negative?
Yes. Falling prices are deflation. Future mode accepts rates above -100%, and historical comparisons preserve years in which the annual-average CPI declined.
Does changing currency select another country's inflation?
No. Currency changes number formatting only. Historical mode remains based on U.S. CPI-U; future and personal modes use the assumptions and amounts you enter.
Method and sources
The BLS CPI Inflation Calculator identifies CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted as its series. BLS explains purchasing-power and constant-dollar conversion, annual-average percent changes, and why individual inflation can differ from published averages. The 2025 value is the arithmetic mean of the 11 published monthly indexes available in the source dataset. Values for 2026-2030 are projections compounded at 2.5% annually, not official CPI observations. Results are educational estimates, not financial advice.
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