How to adjust a dollar amount for inflation
- Enter the Amount in US dollars and the Year it’s from.
- Enter the year to compare with in Is worth in. It can be earlier or later, anywhere from 1913 to 2024.
- Read the equivalent amount, the total price change and the average inflation per year. The table lists the CPI and inflation for every year in between.
How much prices have changed
The CPI-U shows how the price of a typical basket of goods and services in US cities has changed. Some examples, all in 2024 dollars:
| Amount | From | Worth in 2024 | Average inflation a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1913 | 31.69 | 3.16% |
| 1 | 1980 | 3.81 | 3.08% |
| 100 | 1970 | 808.48 | 3.95% |
| 100 | 2020 | 121.20 | 4.93% |
Prices haven’t always risen. In the early 1930s CPI fell for several years in a row, so a dollar bought more in 1933 than in 1929. You can see this in the table under the calculator by choosing 1925 to 1940.
Uses for an inflation calculator
- Comparing pay over time. A salary of 40,000 in 2000 needs to be about 72,900 in 2024 to buy the same things.
- Old prices. Turn a price from a newspaper or a family story into today’s money.
- Planning. Long-range plans such as retirement need future amounts in today’s money. The retirement calculator does this with an inflation rate you choose.
For years after 2024, BLS publishes new figures each month on its website at bls.gov/cpi.