The short answer
- $100 in 2000 buys about what $194.53 buys in August 2026.
- $100 in 1970 is worth about $863.35 today; $100 in 1913, about $3,383.64.
- From 1913 to 2025, US prices rose an average of 3.16% a year.
- In the 12 months to August 2026, prices rose 3.4%.
What inflation is
Inflation is a general rise in prices over time. When inflation is 3%, a basket of goods and services that cost $100 a year ago costs about $103 now. The flip side is that each dollar buys a little less: its purchasing power falls.
Some inflation is normal in a growing economy. The Federal Reserve aims for 2% a year over time, measured by a related index, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. Very high inflation erodes savings and makes planning hard; falling prices (deflation) usually come with recessions.
How the CPI is measured
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects tens of thousands of prices across the country, from rent and groceries to car insurance and medical care, and combines them using how much households spend on each. The result is the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), which represents over 90% of the US population. Its base is set so the average for 1982 to 1984 equals 100.
The calculator uses the CPI-U for all items, not seasonally adjusted, which is the series BLS uses for its own inflation calculator. Each year uses that year’s annual average index. Because the 2026 average isn’t known yet, 2026 uses the latest monthly index, August 2026 (334.980). BLS did not publish an index for October 2025 because of the federal government shutdown.
How the calculator works
It divides the CPI for the year you want by the CPI for the year you start from, and multiplies your amount by the result. The average yearly rate is the compound rate that turns one index into the other over the number of years between them.
You can go backward too. Put a recent year first and an earlier year second to see what today’s price would have been in the past.
A worked example
- CPI-U, 2000 annual average172.2
- CPI-U, August 2026334.980
- Ratio: 334.980 ÷ 172.21.9453
- Total price rise94.5%
- Average a year over 26 years2.59%
Put the other way, a dollar from 2000 buys only about 51 cents’ worth of goods today.
What $100 was worth
| Year | Worth in 2026 | Average inflation a year since |
|---|---|---|
| 1913 | $3,383.64 | 3.17% |
| 1920 | $1,674.90 | 2.69% |
| 1950 | $1,389.96 | 3.52% |
| 1960 | $1,131.69 | 3.74% |
| 1970 | $863.35 | 3.92% |
| 1980 | $406.53 | 3.10% |
| 1990 | $256.30 | 2.65% |
| 2000 | $194.53 | 2.59% |
| 2010 | $153.62 | 2.72% |
| 2020 | $129.43 | 4.39% |
| 2025 | $104.05 | — |
Notice that $100 from 1920 is worth less in today’s money than $100 from 1933. Prices fell sharply in between, so a dollar in 1933 bought much more than a dollar in 1920.
A century of US inflation
- 1917–1920World War I inflation
Prices rose 17.4% in 1917, 18.0% in 1918 and 15.6% in 1920.
- 1921, 1930–1933Deflation
Prices fell 10.5% in 1921 and 9.9% in 1932, during the Great Depression.
- 1946–1947Post-war price surge
Wartime price controls ended; prices rose 8.3% and then 14.4%.
- 1973–1981The Great Inflation
Oil shocks and loose policy: 11.0% in 1974, 11.3% in 1979, 13.5% in 1980.
- 1983–2019Low and stable
Mostly 1% to 4% a year; 1.9% in 1986, 0.1% in 2015.
- 2021–2023Pandemic inflation
4.7% in 2021, 8.0% in 2022 and 4.1% in 2023.
- 2024–2025Cooling
2.9% in 2024 and 2.6% in 2025.
Inflation by decade
The 1920s and 1930s are left off the chart because prices fell on average, by 1.79% and 1.75% a year. The 1970s stand out: prices more than doubled in ten years.
Inflation since 2020
| Year | CPI-U | Inflation |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 255.657 | 1.8% |
| 2020 | 258.811 | 1.2% |
| 2021 | 270.970 | 4.7% |
| 2022 | 292.655 | 8.0% |
| 2023 | 304.702 | 4.1% |
| 2024 | 313.689 | 2.9% |
| 2025 | 321.943 | 2.6% |
| 2026 (August) | 334.980 | 3.4% (12 months) |
A salary of $50,000 in 2020 would need to be about $64,715 in 2026 to buy the same things. That jump is why many people felt poorer after 2021 even when their pay rose.
When prices fell
Deflation sounds good for shoppers but usually signals trouble: falling demand, lost jobs and debts that become harder to repay as wages fall. The US saw it in 1921 and through the early 1930s. The only full year of falling prices since 1955 was 2009, after the financial crisis, when the annual average fell 0.4%.
Planning for future inflation
| Years ahead | Cost of $100 of things | What $100 will buy, in today's dollars |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $134.39 | $74.41 |
| 20 | $180.61 | $55.37 |
| 30 | $242.73 | $41.20 |
For long-term plans, assume some inflation even if recent years have been calm. At 2.5% a year, $50,000 of yearly spending today becomes about $64,004 in 10 years, $81,931 in 20 and $104,878 in 30. Our retirement calculator builds this into its estimate of what you need.
How fast prices double
- Prices double in
- 35.0 years
- Prices double in
- 23.4 years
- Prices double in
- 17.7 years
The rule of 72 gives a quick estimate: divide 72 by the inflation rate. At 3%, that is 24 years, close to the exact 23.4. Over a 30-year retirement at 3%, prices more than double.
Has your pay kept up?
To check, put your old salary and its year into the calculator and compare the result with your pay now. A $60,000 salary in 2019 equals about $78,616 in August 2026 prices. If you earn less than that, your pay has lost buying power, even if it has risen in dollars. The raise calculator shows what a raise means after tax.
Inflation and your savings
What matters is your return after inflation, the real return. A savings account paying 1% when inflation is 3% loses about 2% of its buying power a year. Cash is right for emergencies and short-term goals, but money for goals decades away usually needs to be invested to stay ahead. The investment calculator shows any balance in today’s dollars.
Tax makes it harder
Interest is taxed even when it only keeps up with inflation. At 4% interest, 3% inflation and a 22% tax rate, the after-tax return is 3.12%, barely above inflation.
Ways to protect against inflation
- Series I savings bonds: their rate includes an inflation part reset every six months from the CPI-U. You can buy up to $10,000 a year electronically at TreasuryDirect.
- TIPS: Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, whose principal rises with the CPI-U.
- Stocks: over long periods, company earnings and share prices have tended to grow faster than inflation, though not in every decade.
- Fixed-rate debt: a fixed-rate mortgage gets easier to afford as prices and wages rise.
What rises with inflation automatically
Social Security benefits rise each January with a cost-of-living adjustment based on the CPI-W, a closely related index. Federal tax brackets, the standard deduction and retirement plan limits are adjusted each year for inflation by the IRS, using a chained version of the CPI. Many pensions, though, are fixed in dollars, and most wages rise only when employers decide.
Your own inflation rate
The CPI is an average. Renters in fast-growing cities, people with large health costs and families paying for child care may see higher inflation than the index; homeowners with a fixed-rate mortgage may see less. Track a few big categories of your own spending year to year to see how your costs compare.
Limits of the comparison
Comparing across many decades is rough. Products change: a 1970 car and a 2026 car are different things, and BLS adjusts for quality as best it can. Early CPI figures, especially before 1940, were gathered from fewer cities and items. The results are good for a sense of scale, not for exact prices of specific goods.
Key numbers
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| CPI-U, August 2026 | 334.980 |
| CPI-U, 2025 annual average | 321.943 |
| Inflation in 2025 | 2.6% |
| 12 months to August 2026 | 3.4% |
| Average a year, 1913 to 2025 | 3.16% |
| Highest year since 1913 | 18.0% (1918) |
| Federal Reserve target | 2% |