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Inflation calculator

What a price grows to at a yearly inflation rate, or what a dollar amount from any year since 1913 is worth today, using the US Consumer Price Index.

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Same buying power $246.32

How it works

then × CPI(now) ÷ CPI(then)

Inflation compounds like interest: 3% a year for 10 years is 1.03 × 1.03 × … ten times, about 34%, not 30%. To compare real past prices, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), the price of a fixed basket of goods with 1982–84 = 100. Dividing one year’s index by another gives how much prices rose between them, and multiplying a dollar amount by that ratio moves it from one year to the other.

  1. Look up the CPI for both years CPI 1990 = 130.7 · CPI 2025 = 321.943
  2. Scale the amount by their ratio $100.00 × 321.943 ÷ 130.7 = $246.32

Good to know

  • CPI-U annual averages, US city average, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1913–2025. The next year is added each January.

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