Inflation Calculator
See what an amount of money is worth in a different year. The calculator converts between any two years from 1913 to 2024 using the official CPI-U index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and shows the cumulative inflation and average yearly rate over the period.
CPI-U annual averages (1982-84 = 100), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — as of 2024. The CPI tracks a fixed basket of urban household spending, so it is an average: your own cost of living can move differently.
Formula and calculation
Worked example
$100 in the year 2000 has the buying power of $182.17 in 2024 — cumulative inflation of 82.17% over the period, an average of 2.53% a year compounded.
Where the numbers come from
The index values behind this calculator are CPI-U annual averages published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), on the 1982-84 = 100 base, running from 1913 through 2024 — 2024 is the latest year with a full-year average, and the full series lives at bls.gov/cpi. One annual average per year smooths the monthly ups and downs into a single number, which is what a year-to-year comparison needs. When the BLS publishes the 2025 annual average, the values here will be extended; the method will not change.
What the results mean
- Equivalent amount
- The amount restated in the end year's dollars — what it would take to buy the same basket of goods. A later end year gives a bigger number, an earlier one a smaller number.
- Cumulative inflation
- The total change in prices between the two years as one percentage. It is the compounded result of every year in between, not the sum of yearly rates, and it is negative when prices fell.
- Average inflation per year
- The single yearly rate that would compound to the same total change over the period — the whole stretch boiled down to one steady number.
- CPI-U in 2000
- The CPI-U annual average for the start year, on the 1982-84 = 100 base the index uses.
- CPI-U in 2024
- The CPI-U annual average for the end year. The series currently ends at 2024, the latest full year published by the BLS.
Frequently asked questions
What does the CPI measure — and what does it leave out?
The CPI-U tracks prices for a fixed basket of goods and services that urban households buy: housing (including a rent-based estimate of homeownership cost), food, energy, transportation, medical care and more. It does not track investment prices such as stocks or houses bought as assets, and it is a national urban average, so your own city and your own spending mix can run ahead of or behind it. That makes it the standard way to restate an amount in another year's money — but only an estimate of your personal cost of living.
How do I convert an amount from one year to another by hand?
Multiply the amount by the ratio of the two index values: $100 in 2000 becomes 100 × 313.689 ÷ 172.2 ≈ $182.17 in 2024. Going backwards divides instead of multiplying, so $100 in 2024 buys what roughly $54.90 bought in 2000.
Why does the calculator stop at 2024?
The conversion uses annual index averages, and 2024 is the most recent full year with one — 2025 has not been averaged yet. Monthly CPI figures come out sooner but are not comparable to the annual averages this page uses. Enter an end year of 2024 or earlier.
Can inflation be negative?
Yes. Prices fell through 1921 and 1922, when the index dropped from 20.0 to 16.8 — about −16% over the two years — and the calculator shows a negative cumulative figure for a period like that. The average per year is negative too whenever the end year's index is below the start year's.