CPI Inflation Calculator, US Dollars 1913 to Latest Year
Convert US dollars between years with the official CPI-U annual averages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. See the index values used, the cumulative change and the average yearly rate. Runs in your browser.
Enter an amount to see what it is worth in another year.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U all items, series CUUR0000SA0, annual averages (1982-84=100). https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0, retrieved 2026-10-31.
About the CPI Inflation Calculator
The CPI Inflation Calculator converts US dollars between years using the Consumer Price Index itself, so you can see the index values behind every answer. Pick an amount, a start year and an end year, and the page applies the ratio of the two CPI values. Open the Calculation block to see both index numbers and the formula, then compare them with the official table.
Data: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, series CUUR0000SA0, annual averages, from https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0, retrieved 2026-10-31. Results are approximate, for US dollars and urban consumers, and are not financial advice.
What the CPI is
The Consumer Price Index measures the average change over time in the prices urban consumers pay for a fixed basket of goods and services. The basket covers food, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation, education and other everyday spending. Each month BLS staff collect tens of thousands of price quotes from stores and service providers, plus rental housing quotes, then weight the price changes by how much households spend in each category.
The index is a number, not a percentage. Inflation is the percentage change in that number between two dates.
How CPI-U is built
This calculator uses CPI-U, the index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted. It represents about 93 percent of the US population. A related index, CPI-W, covers urban wage earners and clerical workers, and the chained C-CPI-U adjusts for shoppers switching products. They differ slightly from CPI-U, so figures from one will not match another exactly.
The index is scaled so that the average of 1982 to 1984 equals 100. A value of 313.689, as in 2024, therefore means prices were about 3.14 times their 1982-84 level. The base period is only a reference point and does not change any ratio between two years.
Annual averages and why years are compared
BLS publishes a monthly index and, for each year, an annual average of the twelve monthly values. This calculator uses the annual averages only. That has two consequences. First, a year is treated as a single price level, so the tool answers questions such as what 100 in March 2000 is worth in June 2024. Second, there is no seasonal noise to worry about, because a full year contains every season.
Month-to-month comparisons are better for tracking current inflation, but they bring in seasonal swings and revisions. For long spans of a decade or more the difference is small, which is why year-to-year comparison suits historical questions.
The formulas
The average annual rate is the constant yearly rate that would produce the same cumulative change, found by taking the ratio to the power of one over the number of years.
Worked examples
Example 1: reading the 1913 index
The first year in the table has an annual average of 9.9, and 2025 has 321.943. The ratio is 321.943 / 9.9 = 32.52, so 3,251.95 in 2025. That is 3,151.95% cumulative inflation, or 3.16% a year across 112 years.
Example 2: a short recent span
From 2020 (258.811) to 2025 (321.943) the ratio is 1.2439, so 124.39, cumulative inflation of 24.39%. Spread over five years, that is 4.46% a year. The one-year step from 2020 to 2021 (258.811 to 270.970) alone is 4.70%.
Example 3: 2000 to 2024
With 172.2 in 2000 and 313.689 in 2024, 182.17. The reverse reads that 54.90 in 2000.
How to use it
Steps
- Enter the Amount in US dollars.
- Choose the From year and the To year from the lists.
- Read the equivalent amount, the cumulative change and the average annual rate.
- Open Calculation to check the two CPI values against the BLS series.
Limits to keep in mind
The CPI is an average. Your own costs may rise faster or slower, especially for housing, tuition or healthcare. The most recent year deserves a little extra care: the October 2025 monthly index was never collected during the federal funding lapse, although BLS still published the 2025 annual average that this table uses.
Privacy
Nothing is uploaded; every calculation runs in your browser and never leaves your device.
Related tools
If you only need the percentage change between two numbers, use the Percentage Calculator. For the cost of borrowing over time, see the Loan Calculator. The USD Inflation Calculator is the plain version of this page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Consumer Price Index?
The CPI is a measure from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics of the average change over time in the prices urban consumers pay for a basket of goods and services. It is an index number, and inflation is the percentage change in that number between two dates.
Which CPI does this calculator use?
CPI-U, the index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (series CUUR0000SA0). The data was retrieved on 2026-10-31 from https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0. CPI-W and chained C-CPI-U are different indexes and give slightly different results.
What does 1982-84=100 mean?
The index is scaled so that the average price level of 1982 to 1984 equals 100. A value of 313.689, as in 2024, means prices were about 3.14 times that level. The base period does not affect the ratio between any two years.
Why does the calculator use annual averages instead of monthly values?
An annual average smooths out seasonal swings and gives each year a single price level, which suits historical questions over many years. It cannot answer questions about a specific month, and over short spans it can differ a little from a month-to-month comparison.
Why compare year to year rather than month to month?
Month-to-month changes include seasonal patterns and short-lived price moves, so they say less about the long-term loss of purchasing power. Year-to-year comparisons using annual averages are steadier, and the 112 years from 1913 to 2025 are covered consistently.
How can I check the result against BLS?
Open the Calculation block under the result to see the two CPI values used, then look up the annual average column (M13) for those years in series CUUR0000SA0 at data.bls.gov. Dividing the later value by the earlier one gives the same ratio the calculator uses.
Does my data leave the browser?
No. Nothing is uploaded; every calculation runs in your browser and never leaves your device. The CPI table ships with the page, so the amount you type is never sent to a server and no account is needed.