💹 Inflation Calculator
See how inflation changes the value of money over time using an adjustable average annual rate.
Inflation Details
Your Result
This calculator uses a user-adjustable average annual inflation rate as an estimate — it does not pull official U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI data. Actual historical inflation varied year to year.
How the Inflation Calculator Works
This calculator estimates how the value of an amount of money changes over a number of years, compounding a constant average annual inflation rate. It also shows the reverse view: what the same nominal amount today would have been "worth" (its purchasing power) at the start year.
Formula
Future Value = Amount × (1 + rate/100)^years
Purchasing Power Today = Amount / (1 + rate/100)^years
What Is CPI (Consumer Price Index)?
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the standard measure of US inflation, published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It tracks the average change in prices paid by consumers for a fixed "basket" of goods and services — housing, food, energy, transportation, medical care, and more. The year-over-year percentage change in CPI is the headline "inflation rate" reported in the news. This US inflation calculator lets you apply your own average annual rate (which you can set to match a specific period's CPI-based inflation rate) rather than fetching live BLS data, so you can freely model different historical or projected scenarios.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this use real historical CPI data?
No. This calculator applies a single average annual rate you specify, compounded over the selected years. For official historical CPI-based inflation data, refer to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI tables at bls.gov.
What inflation rate should I use?
The default of 3.0% approximates the long-run historical U.S. average, but actual inflation varies significantly by year and by decade — adjust the rate to model different scenarios.
What does "purchasing power" mean here?
It shows what your entered amount would be equivalent to in the start year's dollars — essentially, how much smaller that amount's buying power becomes after years of inflation.