A dollar does not hold its value. This calculator measures by how much, using the official US Consumer Price Index. Pick any two years from 1913 to 2025 and it converts an amount from one year’s dollars into the other’s — useful for comparing old prices and salaries, adjusting historical figures for reports, or simply seeing how far a dollar used to go. A second mode projects future prices at an inflation rate you choose.
How to use the inflation calculator
- Choose US CPI history to compare two past years, or an assumed future rate to project ahead.
- Enter the amount.
- For history, pick the year the amount is from (In year) and the year to compare it with (Has the same buying power in). For a projection, enter the expected inflation rate and the number of years.
- Read the equivalent amount, the cumulative inflation, the average yearly rate and how much buying power was lost. The table lists every year in between with its CPI and that year’s inflation.
The CPI inflation formula
Converting between years only needs the two index values:
Cumulative inflation is CPIB ÷ CPIA − 1, and the average yearly rate over n years is (CPIB ÷ CPIA)1/n − 1. In projection mode the calculator uses Amount × (1 + rate)years.
Worked example
What did $100 in 2000 become by 2025?
- CPI-U annual average: 2000 = 172.2, 2025 = 321.943
- Equivalent: $100 × 321.943 ÷ 172.2 = $186.96
- Cumulative inflation: 86.96%, or 2.53% a year on average
- Buying power lost: 46.51% — a 2025 dollar buys what about 53 cents did in 2000
What $100 from past years is worth in 2025
| Year | CPI-U | Equivalent in 2025 | Average inflation since |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | 9.9 | $3,251.95 | 3.16% |
| 1933 | 13.0 | $2,476.48 | 3.55% |
| 1950 | 24.1 | $1,335.86 | 3.52% |
| 1970 | 38.8 | $829.75 | 3.92% |
| 1980 | 82.4 | $390.71 | 3.07% |
| 1990 | 130.7 | $246.32 | 2.61% |
| 2000 | 172.2 | $186.96 | 2.53% |
| 2010 | 218.056 | $147.64 | 2.63% |
| 2020 | 258.811 | $124.39 | 4.46% |
A century of US inflation in brief
The CPI shows that inflation comes in episodes. Prices jumped 15–18% a year at the end of World War I, then fell sharply in the 1921 recession and again in the early 1930s, when the index dropped about 10% in both 1921 and 1932. Inflation spiked after World War II (14.4% in 1947), and the 1970s brought a decade of persistent increases, peaking at 13.5% in 1980. After decades near 2–3%, the post-pandemic surge lifted annual-average inflation to 4.7% in 2021 and 8.0% in 2022 before it eased to 4.1%, 2.9% and 2.6% in 2023 through 2025.
About the data
The Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the CPI-U from the prices of a market basket of goods and services bought by urban households, which together represent more than 90% of the US population. Values before 2007 are published to one decimal place and later values to three. The 2025 annual average was published without an October 2025 index, which was not collected during the 2025 lapse in federal appropriations. Your personal inflation rate can differ from the national figure depending on where you live and what you buy — housing, health care and tuition, for example, have often risen faster than the overall index.
To check whether pay kept up, use the salary inflation calculator; to see how inflation erodes investment returns, try the investment inflation calculator.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U (CUUR0000SA0) annual averages, 1913–2025. Results are estimates for comparison and planning, not financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
Which inflation data does this calculator use?
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted — BLS series CUUR0000SA0 — using annual averages from 1913 through 2025, the latest complete year. The index base is 1982–84 = 100.
How much is $100 from 2000 worth today?
Using annual averages, $100 in 2000 buys about what $186.96 bought in 2025. Prices rose about 87% over those 25 years, an average of 2.53% a year.
Why does the calculator use annual averages instead of monthly CPI?
Annual averages smooth out seasonal swings and give one consistent figure per year back to 1913. If you need a specific month, the BLS publishes monthly CPI values that you can divide the same way.
Why is 2026 not available yet?
An annual average needs all twelve months of data, so the latest year shown is the most recent complete calendar year, 2025. The 2026 average is published by the BLS in January of the following year.
Can I go backward in time?
Yes. Choose a later year in the first box and an earlier year in the second. For example, $100 in 2025 is equivalent to about $3.08 in 1913.