Inflation CalculatorWhat your money is really worth.

Prices do not hold still, and inflation is the rate at which they rise over time. This calculator converts a dollar amount from one year into its equivalent buying power in another year, so an old price, a past salary, or a future cost can be compared honestly instead of left as a flat, misleading number. It works in both directions: look backward using real published government data, or look forward to estimate a future cost at an assumed rate. Inflation is the quiet variable in every long-run savings plan; the Compound Interest Calculator projects the growth side of that same money, before this page's inflation adjustment is applied.

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Reviewed by the FigureNerd team. Historical data independently re-verified against the live BLS API. Meet the team →

How the math works, in plain English

Inflation calculators lean on a price index, a running measure of what a broad basket of everyday goods and services costs over time, most often the Consumer Price Index published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. To convert a dollar amount from one year to another using published history, the calculator takes the ratio of the price index in the target year to the price index in the starting year, and multiplies the dollar amount by that ratio. Looking forward instead of at recorded history works the same way in reverse, using an assumed future inflation rate chosen by the user rather than an actual published index, since nobody can know future inflation with certainty.

For the historical mode, using real published CPI-U:

For the forward-projection mode, using an assumed rate:

A worked example: $50,000 over ten years

Say $50,000 sat in a budget line ten years ago. Run it through this calculator's historical mode for 2014 to 2024 and the real published BLS data puts it at about $66,253 today, an actual recorded increase, not a flat assumption. Now compare that to the forward-projection mode's flat 3% assumption applied over 10 years: $50,000 x (1.03) raised to the 10th power comes to roughly $67,196. The two numbers land close but are not identical, because real annual inflation ran hotter some years and cooler in others across 2014-2024 rather than holding at a flat 3%. Enter your own two years above for the calculator's answer using actual published data, retirement accounts feel this same erosion over decades; the Retirement Withdrawal Calculator factors ongoing inflation into how long a balance is likely to last.

Mistakes people make

• Confusing the inflation rate with the price level. When the inflation rate "comes down," prices are usually still rising, just more slowly, not falling. Outright falling prices is called deflation and is far rarer.
• Comparing a raise or a wage in nominal terms only. A 4% raise during a year when prices rose 5% is a real pay cut, even though the number on the paycheck went up.
• Treating a forward-looking estimate as a certainty. Nobody can know future inflation with certainty; a forward projection here is a planning assumption, not a forecast to rely on.

When to use which mode

Look backward when trying to understand an old number: what a past salary, a historical price, or an old budget line actually meant in real terms, using real recorded BLS data. Look forward when planning: what a future expense might cost, or what a fixed sum might be worth by the time it is needed, using a chosen assumed rate. A balance that looks like plenty today can fall short after twenty or thirty years of rising prices; the Will I Outlive My Money Calculator runs that harder version of the question against actual spending. This tool provides an estimate for planning purposes; it is not financial, tax, or legal advice, and future inflation is not fixed and can run higher or lower than any rate used here.

Methodology and sources

Frequently Asked Questions