Inflation Calculator
Enter an amount in U.S. dollars and two years between 1913 and 2025, and the calculator restates the amount in the later year's dollars using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer price index. You also get the total inflation between the years, the average yearly rate, a year-by-year table and a graph. Free, no sign-up.
Your dollars and years
Whole years from 1913 to 2025. You can enter the later year first to look backward in time.
Uses the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U (U.S. city average, all items, 1982–84 = 100), annual averages, 1913–2025.
Results
$100.00 in 2000 has the same buying power as $186.96 in 2025.
$186.96
Equivalent value in 2025
86.96%
Total inflation, 2000 to 2025
2.53%
Average yearly inflation
0.5349
Buying power of the dollar
Working
CPI-U 2000 = 172.2; CPI-U 2025 = 321.943
Equivalent value = amount × CPI(2025) ÷ CPI(2000) = $100.00 × 321.943 ÷ 172.2 = $186.96
Total inflation = CPI(2025) ÷ CPI(2000) − 1 = 321.943 ÷ 172.2 − 1 = 86.96%
Average yearly rate = (later CPI ÷ earlier CPI)^(1 ÷ 25) − 1 = 2.53%
Buying power = CPI(2000) ÷ CPI(2025) = 172.2 ÷ 321.943 = 0.5349
Show the year-by-year table
| Year | CPI-U (annual average) | Inflation from the previous year | Value of your amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 172.2 | 3.36% | $100.00 |
| 2001 | 177.1 | 2.85% | $102.85 |
| 2002 | 179.9 | 1.58% | $104.47 |
| 2003 | 184 | 2.28% | $106.85 |
| 2004 | 188.9 | 2.66% | $109.70 |
| 2005 | 195.3 | 3.39% | $113.41 |
| 2006 | 201.6 | 3.23% | $117.07 |
| 2007 | 207.342 | 2.85% | $120.41 |
| 2008 | 215.303 | 3.84% | $125.03 |
| 2009 | 214.537 | -0.36% | $124.59 |
| 2010 | 218.056 | 1.64% | $126.63 |
| 2011 | 224.939 | 3.16% | $130.63 |
| 2012 | 229.594 | 2.07% | $133.33 |
| 2013 | 232.957 | 1.46% | $135.28 |
| 2014 | 236.736 | 1.62% | $137.48 |
| 2015 | 237.017 | 0.12% | $137.64 |
| 2016 | 240.007 | 1.26% | $139.38 |
| 2017 | 245.12 | 2.13% | $142.35 |
| 2018 | 251.107 | 2.44% | $145.82 |
| 2019 | 255.657 | 1.81% | $148.47 |
| 2020 | 258.811 | 1.23% | $150.30 |
| 2021 | 270.97 | 4.7% | $157.36 |
| 2022 | 292.655 | 8% | $169.95 |
| 2023 | 304.702 | 4.12% | $176.95 |
| 2024 | 313.689 | 2.95% | $182.17 |
| 2025 | 321.943 | 2.63% | $186.96 |
CPI-U measures the average price change for urban consumers as a whole. Your own inflation depends on what you buy, and goods such as housing, tuition or electronics have not followed the average.
How to Use the Inflation Calculator
- 1. Enter the amount. Type the dollar amount as it was in the starting year, such as 100 for a hundred-dollar purchase.
- 2. Choose the two years. Put the year the money comes from in the first box and the year you want it expressed in the second. Enter the later year first to look backward and see what today's dollars were worth in the past.
- 3. Read the result. The headline is the equivalent amount. Beneath it are the total inflation between the years, the average yearly rate and the buying power of a dollar.
- 4. Open the year-by-year table. It lists the CPI-U for every year in your range, the inflation from the previous year, and your amount in each year's dollars, so you can cite any step.
Where the Numbers Come From
The calculator uses the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (series CUUR0000SA0). The CPI measures the average change over time in the prices consumers pay for a representative basket of goods and services, and the CPI-U covers over 90 percent of the U.S. population. The index is scaled so that the average of 1982, 1983 and 1984 equals 100. Every value in the calculator is the annual average the BLS publishes for each year from 1913 to 2025, and the page uses the latest complete year only: a partial year would not be comparable. The CPI is also the figure behind cost-of-living adjustments such as those for Social Security.
Inflation formulas
Equivalent value
amount × CPI(later year) ÷ CPI(earlier year)
Total inflation
CPI(later) ÷ CPI(earlier) − 1
Average yearly rate
(CPI(later) ÷ CPI(earlier))^(1 ÷ years) − 1
Buying power
CPI(earlier) ÷ CPI(later)
Worked Example: $100 in 2000
The annual average CPI-U was 172.2 in 2000 and 321.943 in 2025. The calculator opens with this pair: $100 in 2000 buys what 100 × 321.943 ÷ 172.2 = $186.96 buys in 2025. Prices rose by 321.943 ÷ 172.2 − 1 = 86.96% over the 25 years, an average of 2.53% a year, and a 2025 dollar buys 0.5349 of what a 2000 dollar did.
| Starting point | Amount | In 2025 dollars | Total inflation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 (CPI-U 9.9) | $1.00 | $32.52 | 3,152% |
| 1970 (CPI-U 38.8) | $100.00 | $829.75 | 729.75% |
| 2000 (CPI-U 172.2) | $100.00 | $186.96 | 86.96% |
| 2020 (CPI-U 258.811) | $100.00 | $124.39 | 24.39% |
What Inflation Has Looked Like
Annual-average inflation was 13.5% in 1980, close to 8% in 2022 (the CPI-U rose from 270.970 in 2021 to 292.655), and negative during the Depression: the index fell from 15.2 in 1931 to 13.7 in 1932, a drop of 9.9%. Set the years to 1979 and 1982, or 1930 and 1933, to see these episodes in the year-by-year table.
Limits of the Calculation
- It is an average. CPI-U tracks a basket for urban consumers as a whole. Housing, tuition, health care and consumer electronics have all diverged from the average, so the cost of a specific thing may differ a lot.
- Annual averages, not months. A calendar-year average smooths the year. A December-to-December change, which BLS notes is a more recent but more volatile estimate, will differ.
- Early years are rougher. The further back you go, the less the basket resembles what people buy today, so century-long comparisons are an indication rather than a precise measure.
- U.S. dollars only. The calculator does not convert currencies or adjust for exchange rates.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you calculate inflation between two years?
- Divide the CPI of the later year by the CPI of the earlier year and subtract 1. With the 2000 annual average of 172.2 and the 2025 annual average of 321.943, 321.943 ÷ 172.2 − 1 = 0.8696, so prices rose 86.96%.
- How do you adjust a dollar amount for inflation?
- Multiply the amount by the CPI of the year you want it in and divide by the CPI of the year it comes from. For $100 in 2000, that is 100 × 321.943 ÷ 172.2 = $186.96 in 2025 dollars.
- Which price index does this inflation calculator use?
- The CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (BLS series CUUR0000SA0), annual averages from 1913 to 2025 with 1982–84 = 100. It is the standard index for converting U.S. dollars between years.
- Why does the calculator stop at 2025?
- A year only has an annual average once it is complete, and 2025 is the latest full year. Note that the BLS did not collect October 2025 data because of a lapse in appropriations, so its 2025 average is computed from the eleven months that were published.
- What is the average inflation rate in the United States?
- It depends on the period. Between 1913 and 2025 the CPI-U rose from 9.9 to 321.943, an average of about 3.2% a year; between 2000 and 2025 it was about 2.5%. The calculator computes the average for whichever two years you choose.
- Can I use this for years before 1913 or for other countries?
- No. The BLS CPI-U series starts in 1913 and measures U.S. prices only. For other countries use that country's own statistical office, which publishes its own consumer price index.
- Is inflation the same as the cost of living?
- Not exactly. Inflation here is the change in the average price of a fixed basket. Your cost of living depends on what you buy, where you live and how you adjust to price changes, so a personal rate can be higher or lower than the national figure.