Inflation Calculator
See what any dollar amount from 1913 onward is worth in another year, using official Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation data.
Based on annual average CPI-U values from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items), covering 1913–2025. The CPI measures average urban price changes and is not a cost-of-living index for any individual household.
Enter a dollar amount and a year to see what it would take to buy the same thing today. The conversion uses the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with annual averages going back to 1913.
The calculator works in both directions: pick any two years to compare, and it will also show the total price change between them and the compound annual inflation rate that produced it.
How inflation adjustment works
The CPI tracks the price of a fixed basket of goods and services over time. To convert an amount, the calculator multiplies it by the ratio of the two years' index values. If the index doubled between two years, prices roughly doubled, so it takes twice as many dollars to buy the same basket. This is the same method the BLS and Social Security Administration use to compare dollars across time.
Why the annual rate looks small but adds up
Inflation compounds. A 3% annual rate sounds modest, but sustained across 30 years it cuts a dollar's purchasing power by more than half. That compounding is why long-horizon comparisons — a 1970 salary against a current one, or a decades-old home price — produce results that often surprise people.
What the CPI does and doesn't capture
The CPI measures average urban price changes across a broad basket. It is not a cost-of-living index for any one household: your personal inflation rate depends on how much of your budget goes to housing, fuel, food, and health care, all of which move at different rates. Regional differences are also averaged out in the national series used here.
Latest Inflation & Economy News
- Lutnick Draws Red Line: "Great American Companies" Shouldn't Use Chinese Memory Chips ZeroHedge•14 minutes ago
- Socialism Simplified: A System Where Government Uses Your Money To Solve Everyone Else's ProblemsZeroHedge•about 2 hours ago
- Live updates: US-Iran war; Trump says he ‘did the right thing’ and would ‘never apologize’ - CNNGoogle News•about 4 hours ago
- Sandisk Surges: Top Industry-Leading Value Stocks - Seeking AlphaGoogle News•about 6 hours ago
- Forget Reminding Young People About 'Boat People': South America's Rejection Of Socialism Is Happening In Real TimeZeroHedge•about 14 hours ago
- ICE Roundup Of Haitian Migrants Begins In OhioZeroHedge•about 17 hours ago
- Breitbart Business Digest: The Gloom and Boom EconomyBreitbart•about 18 hours ago
- Retail Sales Suffer Biggest Drop In More Than A Year As Iran War Casts Shadow Over Economy The Daily Caller•about 22 hours ago
- Economists Say Iran Faces ‘Severe Collapse’ of Economy Under BlockadeBreitbart•about 23 hours ago
- Panama Canal Fees Hit Record As El Nino, Hormuz Crisis Choke Global ShippingZeroHedge•about 23 hours ago
- Dorm rooms are tiny. The dorm decor economy is not.Axios•about 23 hours ago
- Retail sales slump in JulyAxios•1 day ago
Inflation Calculator — Frequently Asked Questions
- What would $100 in 1970 be worth today?
- About $830 in 2025 dollars, based on CPI-U annual averages. That represents roughly 730% cumulative inflation, or an average of about 3.9% per year over that period.
- What data does this inflation calculator use?
- Annual average values of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The series runs from 1913 through the most recent completed year.
- Why do different inflation calculators give slightly different answers?
- Most differences come from which series is used. Annual averages, monthly values, CPI-U versus CPI-W, and seasonally adjusted versus unadjusted figures all produce slightly different results. This calculator uses unadjusted CPI-U annual averages throughout.
- Has the dollar ever gained value?
- Yes. The U.S. experienced deflation in several periods, most severely during the Great Depression — prices fell about 24% between 1929 and 1933, meaning a dollar bought more at the end of that stretch than at the start.