Free Online Inflation Calculator

1. Enter the dollar amount you want to convert.
2. Pick the starting year (when the amount applied).
3. Pick the ending year (defaults to the current year).
4. Read the equivalent value, total inflation and annualised inflation rate.

Inflation erodes purchasing power: a dollar today buys less than a dollar a decade ago. The standard measure is the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks the price of a representative basket of urban consumer goods and services. To convert an amount from year A to year B, multiply by CPI[B] / CPI[A]; total inflation is that ratio minus one; annualised inflation is the geometric mean.

Writers checking historical figures use the tool to translate a 1970s salary into today's terms. Job seekers stress-test a raise against headline inflation. Investors translate nominal returns into real returns. The tool ships with annual average CPI-U values from 1913 to present and returns the equivalent value, total inflation between the two years and the annualised rate.

CPI is one measure among several and has limitations. It tracks an average urban basket that may not match your spending, and substitution effects can understate or overstate real cost-of-living changes. Treat results as good-enough estimates — general information only.