A raise feels like progress, but whether it is depends on prices. If your salary rose 20% while everyday costs rose 26%, you can afford less than before. This calculator compares pay across years with the official Consumer Price Index, and it can also look forward, showing the salary you would need to keep pace with an expected inflation rate.
How to use the salary inflation calculator
Looking back (CPI mode):
- Enter an earlier salary and the year you earned it.
- Enter your later salary and its year. Years run from 1913 to 2025.
- Read the keep-pace salary, whether you are ahead or behind, and your real change in pay.
Looking ahead (future raises):
- Enter your current salary, the expected raise per year and expected inflation.
- Enter how many years ahead to project.
- Compare the projected salary with the salary needed to keep pace.
Salary inflation formulas
For projections, the keep-pace salary is Salary × (1 + inflation)years and the projected salary is Salary × (1 + raise)years. The real raise per year is (1 + raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1.
Worked example
You earned $55,000 in 2019 and earn $66,000 in 2025.
- CPI-U: 2019 = 255.657, 2025 = 321.943, so prices rose 25.93%
- Keep-pace salary: $55,000 × 321.943 ÷ 255.657 = $69,260.24
- Your nominal raise was 20%, but you are $3,260.24 behind
- Real change: 1.20 ÷ 1.2593 − 1 = −4.71%
- Expressed in 2019 dollars, today’s $66,000 is worth $52,411.02
Looking forward instead: on $70,000 with 3.5% yearly raises and 3% inflation, you would earn $98,741.91 in 10 years. Keeping pace would need $94,074.15, so you would be $4,667.77 ahead — a real raise of about 0.49% a year, worth $73,473.26 in today’s dollars.
Recent examples
| Earlier salary | Later salary | Nominal raise | Inflation | Real change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 (2015) | $65,000 (2025) | +30% | +35.83% | −4.29% |
| $55,000 (2019) | $66,000 (2025) | +20% | +25.93% | −4.71% |
| $60,000 (2020) | $72,000 (2025) | +20% | +24.39% | −3.53% |
The 2021–2023 price surge is why many workers who received what looked like healthy raises still lost ground in real terms. Average inflation from 2020 to 2025 ran about 4.46% a year, well above the 1.73% yearly average from 2010 to 2020.
Using the result
- In a salary negotiation, the keep-pace figure is a factual floor: it is the pay that leaves you exactly where you were. Market rates for your role, available from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, tell you where above that floor to aim.
- When comparing job offers in different years, convert both to the same year’s dollars first.
- For long-run career planning, use the projection mode to see how small differences between raises and inflation compound over a decade.
To convert any other amount between years, use the inflation calculator. If you are paid hourly, the hourly to salary calculator converts your wage first.
Based on national CPI-U annual averages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (1913–2025). Estimates only — not financial or career advice.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my raise beat inflation?
Multiply your earlier salary by the ratio of the two years' CPI values to get the keep-pace salary. If your current pay is higher, you gained real income; if it is lower, inflation outran your raises. The calculator does this with BLS CPI-U annual averages.
What is a real raise?
It is the change in what your pay can buy: (1 + nominal raise) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. A 20% raise over a period when prices rose 25.93% is a real pay cut of about 4.7%.
What is a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA)?
A COLA is a raise intended to offset inflation, often tied to a CPI measure. Social Security benefits, for example, receive an annual COLA based on the CPI-W. A COLA preserves buying power but, by design, does not increase it.
Should I compare gross pay or take-home pay?
Gross salary is the usual comparison because it is what employers quote. Take-home pay can move differently because of tax brackets, benefit premiums and retirement contributions, so compare net pay too if that is what you budget with.
Why might my cost of living have risen more than the CPI?
The CPI tracks an average urban household's spending. If your rent, child care or commuting costs are a bigger share of your budget than average, or you moved to a pricier area, your personal inflation rate can exceed the national figure.