How to use this calculator
Choose a mode at the top.
Past (CPI data) compares two years from 1913 to 2025:
- Amount: the dollar figure you want to convert, such as a past salary, price or rent.
- In year: the year that amount is from.
- Is worth in year: the year to convert it to. This can be later (to see today’s equivalent) or earlier (to see what a modern price would have been back then).
Future projection applies a steady inflation rate to today’s money. Enter the amount, an assumed annual rate and the number of years.
The result shows the equivalent value, the cumulative change in prices and the average annual inflation rate. The chart shows two things on the same dollar scale: how the cost of the same goods grew, and how the buying power of the same amount of cash shrank.
The formula
The Consumer Price Index tracks the price of a broad basket of goods and services. To move an amount between years, multiply by the ratio of the two index values:
The average annual inflation rate is the steady yearly rate that produces the same total change:
For future projections, the calculator uses future cost = amount × (1 + rate)^years, and buying power = amount ÷ (1 + rate)^years.
Worked example
What’s $100 from 2000 worth in 2025?
- CPI-U annual average for 2000: 172.2. For 2025: 321.943.
- Ratio: 321.943 ÷ 172.2 ≈ 1.8696.
- $100 × 1.8696 ≈ $186.96.
Prices rose about 87% over 25 years, an average of 2.53% a year. A salary of $50,000 in 1990 would need to be about $123,161 in 2025 to buy the same things, which is a useful check when you compare pay across decades with the salary calculator.
What $100 from past years is worth in 2025
| Year | CPI-U annual average | $100 then equals in 2025 | Average inflation per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | 9.9 | $3,251.95 | 3.16% |
| 1950 | 24.1 | $1,335.86 | 3.52% |
| 1970 | 38.8 | $829.75 | 3.92% |
| 1980 | 82.4 | $390.71 | 3.07% |
| 1990 | 130.7 | $246.32 | 2.61% |
| 2000 | 172.2 | $186.96 | 2.53% |
| 2010 | 218.056 | $147.64 | 2.63% |
| 2020 | 258.811 | $124.39 | 4.46% |
| 2024 | 313.689 | $102.63 | 2.63% |
The index is set so the average of 1982 to 1984 equals 100. BLS reports annual averages to one decimal place before 2007 and to three decimals from 2007 on, and the calculator uses the values exactly as published.
Recent inflation by year
Annual-average CPI-U change: 4.70% in 2021, 8.00% in 2022, 4.12% in 2023, 2.95% in 2024 and 2.63% in 2025. For comparison, the largest yearly increases in the series include about 18% in 1918 and 13.5% in 1980, and the deepest declines were 10.5% in 1921 and 9.9% in 1932.
Planning for future inflation
What $1,000 of today’s spending could cost later at a steady inflation rate:
| Inflation rate | In 10 years | In 20 years | Buying power of $1,000 in 20 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | $1,218.99 | $1,485.95 | $672.97 |
| 3% | $1,343.92 | $1,806.11 | $553.68 |
| 4% | $1,480.24 | $2,191.12 | $456.39 |
| 5% | $1,628.89 | $2,653.30 | $376.89 |
This is why long-term plans should account for inflation. The retirement calculator grows your income needs with inflation automatically, and the compound interest calculator can show your balance in today’s dollars. Cash in a savings account or a CD only keeps its buying power if the rate beats inflation.
Assumptions and limitations
CPI-U measures price changes for urban consumers as a whole. Your personal inflation rate depends on what you buy and where you live; housing, health care, tuition and food have often risen at different speeds than the overall index. Annual averages also hide changes within a year. BLS couldn’t collect October 2025 prices because of the 2025 lapse in federal appropriations, so no index exists for that month; the 2025 annual average is the one BLS published. Future projections assume one steady rate, while real inflation varies from year to year.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index (CPI) home page
- BLS: CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items (series CUUR0000SA0) data file
- BLS: CPI data series lookup for CUUR0000SA0
- Federal Reserve: Why does the Federal Reserve aim for inflation of 2 percent over the longer run?
Values are estimates based on national averages and are for general information only.
Frequently asked questions
How much is $100 from 2000 worth today?
Using CPI-U annual averages, $100 in 2000 has the same buying power as about $186.96 in 2025. Prices rose about 87% over those 25 years, an average of 2.53% a year. Put another way, a 2025 dollar buys roughly 53% of what a dollar bought in 2000.
What data does this inflation calculator use?
It uses the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as series CUUR0000SA0. We use the annual average for each year from 1913 to 2025, the latest full year available.
What was the inflation rate in 2025?
Measured by the change in the CPI-U annual average, prices rose about 2.63% in 2025, after 2.95% in 2024 and 4.12% in 2023. The recent peak was 8.00% in 2022. Note that BLS often headlines the December-to-December change, which can differ from the annual-average change used here.
Why use annual averages instead of a specific month?
Annual averages smooth out seasonal swings and month-to-month noise, and they're available all the way back to 1913. They're the standard way to compare one year's prices with another's. If you need to compare specific months, BLS publishes monthly index values too.
How do I estimate future inflation?
Switch to Future projection and enter an assumed annual rate. At 3% a year, something that costs $100 today would cost about $134.39 in 10 years. Nobody knows future inflation, so it's worth trying a few rates. For reference, the Federal Reserve aims for 2% inflation over the longer run, measured by a different index (PCE).
Has the US ever had deflation?
Yes. Prices fell in several years, most sharply in the early 1920s and the Great Depression. The CPI-U annual average dropped 10.5% in 1921 and 9.9% in 1932. More recently it dipped 0.36% in 2009.
Updated November 2026. Results are estimates for educational purposes and depend on the inputs you provide.