Inflation Calculator
A 1985 pay cheque does not buy what it did; a 1920 novel’s “$500 a month” read very differently then. This calculator uses US BLS Consumer Price Index data from 1913 onward to compute the equivalent dollar value between any two years, so a historical salary, house price or ticket can be compared to today’s money.
How to calculate inflation-adjusted value
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1
Enter a dollar amount
Whatever price or salary you have.
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2
Pick the source year
Any year from 1913 (when CPI records begin) to the current year.
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3
Pick the target year
Usually the current year; or any historical year for reverse comparison.
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4
Read the equivalent value
Adjusted for cumulative CPI inflation between the two years.
How CPI adjusts for inflation
The formula
Adjusted = Original × (CPI_target / CPI_source)
For example, a $1,000 salary in 1985 compared to 2025 CPI of ~313.7 vs 1985 CPI of ~107.6:
$1,000 × (313.7 / 107.6) ≈ $2,916
Landmark inflation periods
| Period | Annual rate average | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1913-1920 | 7.4% | WWI and immediate post-war |
| 1920-1929 | -0.9% (deflation) | Roaring Twenties |
| 1930-1939 | -2.0% (deflation) | Great Depression |
| 1940-1945 | 5.4% | WWII |
| 1970-1979 | 7.1% | Oil crisis, stagflation |
| 1980-1989 | 5.5% | Volcker disinflation |
| 1990-1999 | 3.0% | Stable |
| 2000-2019 | 2.2% | Low and stable |
| 2020-2023 | 5.1% | COVID supply shock |
What CPI measures
The US Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) tracks a basket of goods and services representative of urban American spending: housing (~33%), transportation (~16%), food (~14%), medical (~8%), energy (~7%) and more.
Limitations
- CPI reflects average urban spending, not yours. A heavy rent spend or daily medical cost can inflate your personal “CPI” much faster than the headline number.
- Different baskets give different answers: Core CPI excludes food and energy; PCE (the Fed’s preferred) weights items differently.
- For very long spans (pre-1913), historical estimates from academic sources exist but are less precise.
When to use inflation adjustment
- Comparing historical salaries, house prices, ticket prices.
- Evaluating long-term investment returns (nominal vs real).
- Writing historical articles that need modern-equivalent values for context.
- Budgeting retirement assuming sustained inflation.
Frequently Asked Questions
CPI-U (All Urban Consumers) is the most commonly cited. CPI-W covers urban wage earners. Chained CPI tries to account for substitution between goods. This calculator uses CPI-U, which is what the Social Security Administration and most media outlets quote.
CPI captures consumer prices but not housing costs in specific high-demand cities or higher-tier services. If you compare a 1990 salary in Manhattan to today, the CPI-adjusted number may buy less housing than a local comparison would suggest.
This calculator uses US CPI. For UK use ONS CPI, for Eurozone HICP, for Japan CPI (Japan) — each has its own history. Cross-country comparisons also need exchange-rate adjustment.
No — it is the best estimate of average consumer prices but has known weaknesses (substitution bias, quality adjustments, hedonic pricing). For high-precision economic analysis, compare multiple measures.