Inflation Calculator
A dollar from 1990 has less than half its original purchasing power today. Enter any amount and year range to see the exact value of your money using real CPI data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, going back to 1913. Includes a raise checker and future projection mode. Free, no account.
Your numbers
Tip: uses official US CPI data from 1913 to 2025 — the same index the government uses to measure inflation.
Worth in 2025
$2,464
$1,000 in 1990
Total inflation
146.4%
$1 is now worth
$0.41
Purchasing power over time
Prices rose an average of 2.6% per year between 1990 and 2025. Something that cost $1,000 in 1990 costs about $2,464 today — and a dollar from back then buys just $0.41 worth of goods now.
What is an inflation calculator?
An inflation calculator tells you how much a dollar amount from one year is worth in another year’s money. It uses real CPI (Consumer Price Index) data, the same data the US government uses to measure inflation, to show you exactly how purchasing power has changed over time.
Put simply: $100 in 1990 does not buy the same things as $100 today. This tool shows you the difference.
You will also see this kind of tool called a dollar value calculator, a value of a dollar calculator, or just a way to check what your money is worth. They all do the same job: compare the buying power of a dollar across two points in time.
What is a dollar worth today?
A dollar is only worth what it buys, and that changes every year.
One 1913 dollar is worth about $32 in 2025 money. Run it the other way and today’s dollar would have been worth a little over 3 cents in 1913.
Some more recent reference points, all converted into 2025 dollars:
- $1 from 1975 is worth about $5.90 today
- $1 from 1995 is worth about $2.09 today
- $1 from 2015 is worth about $1.34 today
- $1 from 2020 is worth about $1.23 today
That last one surprises people. A dollar you earned in 2020 has lost roughly a fifth of its buying power in five years.
How to use this calculator
- Choose your calculation mode: Historical (past to present), Future (project forward), or Raise Check (did your salary keep up with inflation?).
- Enter the dollar amount you want to adjust.
- Set your start year and end year using the dropdowns or sliders.
- Your result updates instantly.
- Read the chart to see how purchasing power changed year by year across your full range.
What is the CPI and how does inflation get measured?
The Consumer Price Index, or CPI, is a monthly survey of prices across a fixed basket of goods and services: groceries, rent, gas, medical care, clothing. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has been tracking it since 1913.
When the CPI goes up, prices have gone up. When prices go up, your dollar buys less. That loss of buying power is inflation.
This calculator uses the CPI-U series, “All Urban Consumers, All Items,” which is the broadest and most cited version. It covers about 93% of the US population.
How the inflation adjustment formula works
The math is straightforward:
Adjusted amount = Original amount x (End year CPI / Start year CPI)
Example: You want to know what $500 in 1985 is worth in 2025.
- CPI in 1985: 107.6
- CPI in 2025: 318.3
- Adjusted amount: $500 x (318.3 / 107.6) = $1,479
That is it. The CPI data does all the work. No guessing, no averages needed.
Why your raise might not be a raise at all
Here is the part most people skip. If you earned $60,000 in 2015 and earn $75,000 in 2025, it feels like a 25% raise. But CPI went from 237.0 in 2015 to 318.3 in 2025, a 34% increase. To truly match your 2015 purchasing power, you would need about $80,430 in 2025. Your real purchasing power has actually fallen.
Use the Raise Check mode to see exactly where you stand.
What the future projection mode assumes
The future mode uses a fixed annual inflation rate that you set. It does not predict the future, but it gives you a realistic planning range.
At 3% per year (close to the US long-run average):
- $10,000 today will have the purchasing power of $7,441 in 10 years
- $10,000 today will have the purchasing power of $5,537 in 20 years
At 2% (the Fed’s target):
- $10,000 today equals $8,203 in purchasing power in 10 years
This is why keeping cash savings idle is a real risk. Inflation does not stop while your money sits still.
What this calculator does not cover
The CPI is a national average. Your personal inflation rate depends on where you live and what you spend money on. If you rent in a high-cost city, your housing inflation is probably higher than the CPI captures. If you spend a lot on medical care, same thing: medical inflation has consistently outpaced the general CPI.
This tool gives you the official benchmark. Your real-life number may differ.
About This Tool
Most inflation calculators only do one thing: convert a past dollar amount to today’s money. That is useful, but it misses the bigger picture. This tool adds a future projection mode so you can see what your savings will actually be worth down the road, and a raise checker that tells you whether your salary has kept pace with rising prices or quietly fallen behind.
All three modes use the same official BLS CPI data, the calculation is shown transparently, and nothing is paywalled or gated behind an account. Free to use. Always.
Not financial advice. For official investment decisions, consult a licensed financial advisor.
Common questions
How much is $1,000 in 1990 worth today?
$1,000 in 1990 is worth approximately $2,428 in 2025, based on CPI data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices rose about 142.8% between 1990 and 2025, averaging around 2.5% per year.
What is the average US inflation rate?
The average US inflation rate from 1913 to 2025 is approximately 3.2% per year. The Federal Reserve’s target rate is 2%. From 2021 to 2023, inflation ran at 7 to 9% annually, the highest in 40 years, before declining back toward 3%.
How do I calculate inflation between two years?
Divide the CPI of the end year by the CPI of the start year, then multiply by your dollar amount. For example: $500 in 2000 x (318.3 / 172.2) = $924 in 2025. This calculator does this math automatically using official BLS CPI data.
How do I calculate the value of a dollar?
Divide the CPI of the year you want to convert into by the CPI of the starting year, then multiply by your amount. To find what a 2000 dollar is worth in 2025: 318.3 / 172.2 = 1.85, so $1 from 2000 has the buying power of about $1.85 today. A dollar value calculator runs that same division for you using official BLS figures, so you never have to look up the index numbers yourself.
Is a dollar value calculator the same as an inflation calculator?
Yes. “Dollar value calculator,” “value of a dollar calculator,” and “inflation calculator” all describe the same calculation: converting an amount of money from one year into another year’s prices using the Consumer Price Index. The names differ, the math does not. This tool covers that conversion in both directions, plus a forward projection mode and a raise checker.
How much is my money worth compared to 20 years ago?
A dollar from 2005 has the buying power of about $1.63 in 2025, so prices have risen roughly 63% over those two decades. Flip it around and $100 today buys what about $61 bought in 2005. Enter your own amount and year range above to get the exact figure for the period you care about.
What was a dollar worth in 1913?
The CPI series starts in 1913 at an index value of 9.9, against 318.3 in 2025. That makes one 1913 dollar worth about $32 in today’s money, and today’s dollar worth a little over 3 cents in 1913 terms. 1913 is the earliest year this calculator covers, because that is when the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking consumer prices consistently.
What does purchasing power mean?
Purchasing power is the amount of goods and services a dollar can actually buy. When inflation goes up, purchasing power goes down. If prices rise 10% and your income stays the same, your purchasing power has fallen by roughly 9%.
How do I know if my raise kept up with inflation?
Use the Raise Check mode. Enter your old salary, the year you earned it, and your current salary. The calculator compares your actual raise to what inflation required. If inflation grew 30% and your salary grew 20%, you have had an effective pay cut of about 10%.
How far back does this calculator go?
This calculator includes CPI data from 1913, which is when the US Bureau of Labor Statistics first began tracking prices consistently. That gives you over 110 years of inflation history to work with.
Is this calculator accurate?
Yes. It uses annual average CPI data from the BLS (CPIAUCSL series), the same data the US government uses to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security. Results may differ slightly from calculators that use monthly CPI instead of annual averages.
What will $1,000 be worth in 10 years?
At the US long-run average of about 3% annual inflation, $1,000 today will have the buying power of roughly $744 in 10 years. At the Fed’s 2% target, it is worth about $820 in real terms. Use the Future mode in this calculator to run your own number at any rate.
Why did inflation spike so much in 2021 and 2022?
CPI inflation hit 7.0% in 2021 and 8.0% in 2022, highs not seen since the early 1980s. The main causes were pandemic-related supply chain disruptions, large stimulus spending, and a surge in consumer demand that supply could not keep up with. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates aggressively through 2022 and 2023 to bring it back down.
Does this calculator account for housing or medical costs separately?
The base CPI includes housing (about 33% of the index weight) and medical care (about 7%). Both have historically inflated faster than general CPI. This calculator uses the all-items CPI, which blends all categories together. If you rent in an expensive city or have significant medical costs, your personal inflation rate is likely higher than what this tool shows.