Based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers), covering 1970–2026. The 2026 value is a partial-year running average and will be revised as the year completes. Reflects average price changes across a general basket of goods - your personal cost of living may differ.
What money from these years is worth today
What Is Your Money Worth Today?
The Tools Kit's free Inflation Calculator shows what a dollar amount from one year is worth in another, using the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Use it as a CPI inflation calculator to see the value of a dollar over time, adjust an old price or salary into today's dollars, or measure how much purchasing power a sum has lost between any two years from 1970 to 2026.
Adjusted value = amount × (CPI in the end year ÷ CPI in the start year). With the default settings, $100 in 1990 comes out at $253.39 in 2026: the CPI-U rose from 130.7 to 331.18, a 153.4% total increase or about 2.62% a year.
How to Use the Inflation Calculator
- 1
Enter a dollar amount
Type any amount greater than zero, such as a past salary, a price, or a savings balance. Commas are fine, so 50,000 works the same as 50000.
- 2
Choose the starting year
Pick the year the money is from in the "In" list, anywhere from 1970 to 2026.
- 3
Choose the comparison year
The "Is worth this much in" list defaults to 2026, the latest year available. Pick any other year to compare two past years, or an earlier year to convert today’s dollars back in time.
- 4
Read the results
The calculator shows the equivalent value in the comparison year, the total percentage change in prices, and the annualized inflation rate, updating as you type.
Everything is calculated in your browser from a built-in CPI table, so there is no account, no upload, and no limit on how many conversions you run.
How Inflation Is Calculated With the CPI
The Consumer Price Index tracks the average price of a broad basket of goods and services, including housing, food, transportation, and medical care. Because the index is scaled to a fixed base (1982-84 = 100), the ratio between two years' values tells you how much prices changed. This calculator uses one annual average CPI-U value per year:
- Adjusted value = amount × (CPI end ÷ CPI start)
- Total inflation = (CPI end ÷ CPI start − 1) × 100
- Annualized inflation rate = (CPI end ÷ CPI start)1 ÷ years − 1
Worked example: $100 from 1970 is worth $853.56 in 2026. The CPI-U went from 38.8 to 331.18, so the ratio is about 8.54, the total change is 753.6%, and spread over 56 years that is an annualized rate of about 3.90%. The total percentage figure is the same kind of percent change you would get from a percentage calculator, applied to the index rather than to a price.
The 2026 CPI value is a partial-year running average through the latest published month, so results that end in 2026 will shift slightly as the year's data is revised.
Total vs. Annualized Inflation Rate
The total change answers "how much have prices gone up since then?" The annualized rate answers "how fast did they rise each year on average?" and is the better number for comparing periods of different lengths. Using the same CPI-U table:
- 1977 to 1981: prices rose 50.0% in four years, about 10.67% a year.
- 2010 to 2019: prices rose 17.2% in nine years, about 1.78% a year.
- 2021 to 2022: prices rose 8.0% in a single year.
- 2020 to 2026: $100 became $127.96, a 28.0% rise, or about 4.20% a year.
When prices are rising, the compounded annualized rate is always lower than the total divided by the number of years once the period runs longer than a year. The same compounding math drives savings growth, which you can model with the compound interest calculator; comparing its return with the annualized inflation rate shows whether money is growing in real terms.
Adjusting a Salary or Price for Inflation
To see whether a raise kept up with the cost of living, enter the old salary and the year you earned it. A $50,000 salary in 2000 equals about $96,161 in 2026 dollars, a 92.3% increase, so a 2026 salary below that buys less than $50,000 did in 2000. If you are comparing pay offers, the hourly to salary calculator converts an hourly rate to an annual figure first, and the paycheck calculator shows what that salary leaves after taxes.
The calculator also works in reverse. Set the start year to the recent year and the end year to an older one to express today's money in past dollars: $100 in 2026 had the buying power of about $39.46 in 1990. The annualized rate shows 0.00% in that direction, since it is only calculated when the end year is after the start year.
Inflation adjustment is not the same as currency conversion. This tool measures U.S. dollars across time; to compare U.S. dollars with another currency on a given day, use the currency converter.
Common uses
- Converting a historical price, rent, or salary into today's dollars
- Checking whether pay raises have kept pace with inflation
- Showing how much purchasing power cash savings lost over a period, alongside a net worth calculator snapshot
- Restating old contract values, budgets, or benchmarks in real terms
- Classroom, research, and journalism work that compares dollar figures from different decades
For other money and everyday math tools, browse all calculator tools.
Inflation terms explained
| Term | What it means here |
|---|---|
| Inflation | A general rise in prices over time, which means each dollar buys less than it used to |
| CPI-U | The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, published monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the most widely quoted measure of U.S. inflation |
| Index base (1982-84 = 100) | The reference period the CPI-U is scaled to; a CPI of 331.18 means prices are about 3.3 times their 1982-84 average |
| Purchasing power | How much a sum of money can actually buy; inflation lowers it |
| Nominal dollars | Amounts as they were written at the time, with no adjustment for inflation |
| Real (inflation-adjusted) dollars | Amounts restated in the prices of one chosen year so they can be compared fairly |
| Total change | The cumulative percentage rise in the CPI between the two years |
| Annualized rate | The steady yearly rate that would produce the same total change, also called the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Divide the CPI for the later year by the CPI for the earlier year and multiply the amount by that ratio: adjusted value = amount × (CPI in end year ÷ CPI in start year). The total inflation rate is (CPI end ÷ CPI start − 1) × 100. The calculator does this for any two years from 1970 to 2026.
About $253.39 in 2026 dollars. The CPI-U rose from 130.7 in 1990 to 331.18 in 2026, a 153.4% increase, or about 2.62% a year on average.
About $853.56 in 2026 dollars. The CPI-U went from 38.8 in 1970 to 331.18 in 2026, a 753.6% rise, which works out to about 3.90% a year.
Annual average values of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), on the 1982-84 = 100 base, for every year from 1970 to 2026. The 2026 figure is a partial-year running average and will be revised as the year completes.
Total inflation is the overall percentage rise in prices between the two years. The annualized rate is the constant yearly rate that would compound to the same total. From 1990 to 2026 prices rose 153.4% in total, which is about 2.62% a year annualized.
Yes. Set the "In" year to the recent year and the "Is worth this much in" year to the older one. For example, $100 in 2026 had the same buying power as about $39.46 in 1990. The annualized rate shows 0.00% for a backward comparison because it is only calculated when the end year is later than the start year.
Enter the old salary as the amount, set the starting year to the year you earned it and the comparison year to today. A $50,000 salary in 2000 is equivalent to about $96,161 in 2026 dollars, so a 2026 salary below that buys less than $50,000 did in 2000.
No. It uses only U.S. CPI-U data, so results describe U.S. dollar purchasing power. Other countries publish their own consumer price indexes, and inflation in them can differ widely from the U.S. figures.
The CPI-U is a national average across a broad basket of goods and services. If you spend more than average on categories that rose faster, such as housing or health care, or live in a higher-cost area, your personal inflation rate can be higher or lower than the headline number.
Every year from 1970 through 2026, with one annual average CPI-U value per year. Months are not selectable, so conversions are year to year.
Yes. It is free with no signup, and the calculation runs entirely in your browser from a built-in CPI table, so the amounts you enter are not sent to a server.
Reviewed by Raja Jahangir · Last reviewed: October 2026
Embed this calculator on your site
Bloggers and other sites are welcome to embed the calculator free of charge. Paste this snippet where you want it to appear; the attribution link must stay.
<iframe src="https://www.thetoolskit.co/embed/inflation-calculator" width="100%" height="620" style="border:1px solid #ddd;border-radius:12px;" title="Inflation Calculator" loading="lazy"></iframe> <p style="font-size:13px">Calculator by <a href="https://www.thetoolskit.co/inflation-calculator">The Tools Kit</a></p>
How do you calculate what money is worth today?
To adjust a dollar amount for inflation, multiply it by the ratio of the Consumer Price Index in the target year to the CPI in the starting year. If the CPI-U doubled between two years, $100 then buys what $200 buys now, a 100% total change. The index covers 1970 through the current partial year.
What is the difference between total inflation and the annualized rate?
Total inflation is the overall percentage rise in prices between two years, while the annualized rate is the constant yearly increase that would produce the same total, calculated as the compound annual growth rate. A 100% total rise over 25 years is only about 2.8% a year annualized, because the increases compound.
Runs in your browser. Your files and text never leave your device - nothing is uploaded.