Inflation Calculator (1913–2025)
Convert dollar amounts across any years from 1913 to 2025 using BLS CPI-U annual averages. See cumulative inflation percentage and average annual inflation rate for any period.
Written by Wanyu T | Last reviewed: November 5, 2026
This US inflation calculator and purchasing power converter transforms dollar amounts between any two years using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U, series CUUR0000SA0) annual averages, 1913–2025. The CPI-U base period is 1982–84 = 100. Formula: equivalent value = original amount × (CPI_target / CPI_start).
The BLS publishes monthly indexes and annual averages. Because October 2025 CPI was not collected during the federal funding lapse, the BLS 2025 annual average (321.943) uses the 11 available months; October was not collected, and this result is not a current-month 2026 CPI measure. The final 2025 annual CPI-U average is 321.943 (see the official BLS annual-average table). This independent FigureCal tool is not operated by or affiliated with BLS. It intentionally compares completed calendar years only; 2026 will become selectable after its full-year CPI-U average is published and incorporated.
Worked example: $100 in 1980 → 2025. CPI 1980 = 82.4; CPI 2025 = 321.943. Equivalent = $100 × (321.943 / 82.4) = $390.71 — cumulative inflation of 290.7%, or 3.07% annualized over 45 years.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the dollar amount you want to convert.
- Select the starting year and target year (both between 1913 and 2025).
- The result shows the equivalent value, cumulative inflation, and average annual rate.
- Reverse the years to convert from past purchasing power to the selected target year's dollars (latest completed annual average: 2025).
- See the purchasing-power hub for the salary and compound-interest tools.
- Source data: BLS CPI-U series CUUR0000SA0 annual averages.
Formula and assumptions
The calculation is a direct ratio of CPI-U index values. The CPI-U base period is 1982–84 = 100 (BLS series CUUR0000SA0), but any two years' values can be compared via ratio — the base cancels out.
equivalentValue = amount × (CPI_target / CPI_start) cumulativeInflation = (CPI_target / CPI_start) - 1 avgAnnualRate = (CPI_target / CPI_start)^(1 / years) - 1 Data: BLS CPI-U annual averages, 1913–2025 (series CUUR0000SA0)
- CPI series
- CPI-U All Items, U.S. City Average (CUUR0000SA0)
- Annual averages
- BLS annual-average values, not point-in-time monthly indexes
- Base period
- 1982–84 = 100 (per BLS)
- 2025
- Latest annual value: 321.943; 2026 is not yet in the annual dataset
- Refresh cadence
- A new year is added after BLS publishes its annual value; monthly releases are references only
Methodology
The CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers) is the Bureau of Labor Statistics measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of consumer goods and services. It measures inflation as experienced in day-to-day living expenses. The basket covers more than 200 categories in eight major groups: food and beverages, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education and communication, and other goods and services.
The CPI-U population is over 90% of the U.S. population: urban households in core-based statistical areas and urban places of 10,000 or more people. It does not cover people in rural nonmetropolitan areas, farm households, on military installations, in religious communities, or in institutions. The CPI also does not count investment items such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and life insurance, or income and Social Security taxes not tied to a purchase; it does include sales and excise taxes tied directly to the price of a specific good or service. The CPI tracks price change for a fixed basket, so it is not a complete cost-of-living index.
This calculator uses the annual-average index for each year, the mean of the 12 monthly indexes, which smooths seasonal and short-run price moves. A comparison of two annual averages therefore measures year-to-year price change, not the change between two specific months. Only completed calendar years are compared (1913–2025); 2026 is added only after BLS publishes its full-year average. Sources: BLS CPI-U series CUUR000SA0 and the BLS CPI questions and answers.
Worked example
$100 in 2000 → 2025 (CPI 172.2 → 321.943, BLS CUUR0000SA0)
Decade-by-decade purchasing power
What $1,000 at the start of each decade is worth in 2025 dollars, using BLS CPI-U annual averages (series CUUR0000SA0). The 1930s deflation explains why $1,000 in 1930 goes further in 2025 equivalent terms than $1,000 in 1920.
| Decade start | CPI-U (annual avg) | $1,000 then = 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 1913 | 9.9 | $32,519 |
| 1920 | 20.0 | $16,097 |
| 1930 | 16.7 | $19,278 |
| 1940 | 14.0 | $22,996 |
| 1950 | 24.1 | $13,359 |
| 1960 | 29.6 | $10,876 |
| 1970 | 38.8 | $8,298 |
| 1980 | 82.4 | $3,907 |
| 1990 | 130.7 | $2,463 |
| 2000 | 172.2 | $1,870 |
| 2010 | 218.1 | $1,476 |
| 2020 | 258.8 | $1,244 |
CPI-U 2025 annual average: 321.943 (BLS series CUUR0000SA0).
Limitations
- CPI-U measures an urban consumer basket — rural or specific category inflation may differ (BLS publishes regional CPI-U separately).
- Annual averages do not capture intra-year price changes.
- Data ends at 2025 — 2026 annual average data is not yet available from BLS.
- CPI is not a perfect proxy for any individual's actual cost of living.
- Chained CPI-U and PCE (Federal Reserve's preferred measure) can differ materially over long horizons.
Frequently asked questions
This calculator uses BLS CPI-U annual averages from 1913–2025 (series CUUR0000SA0) to convert purchasing power across years. $100 in 2000 equals about $187 in 2025 — 87.0% cumulative inflation, or 2.53% per year on average.
Recent updates
- November 2026Title and heading refocused on generic inflation and purchasing power (duplicate | FigureCal in the title fixed); added a CPI-U historical chart and a methodology section; the decade table is now computed from the CPI-U dataset and includes 1913.
- October 2026Clarified that this is an independent tool, linked to the official BLS annual-average table, and removed a stale monthly-release reference. Calculation inputs and CPI values unchanged.
- July 2026Corrected all visible 2025 CPI-U examples and tables to 321.943, matching the calculator dataset and BLS series; refreshed the latest monthly reference to June 2026.
- May 2026AI audit applied: equivalent value now rounded to cents; O(1) CPI lookup; schema hardened with .finite() and safe upper bound; ** exponentiation operator; nullish guard on missing CPI data.
- May 2026Added decade-by-decade purchasing-power table and a monthly CPI-U reference.
- Jan 2026Dataset JSON-LD added (BLS CPI-U annual averages 1913–2025, series CUUR0000SA0).
- Jan 2026BLS CPI-U 2025 annual average (321.943) added to the dataset.