CPI Inflation Calculator — United States 2026
What a sum of money from an earlier year is worth today, measured against the official consumer price index for your country — with the buying power it lost, the average annual rate behind that, and the year-by-year path.
An inflation adjustment is one ratio: the price index in the later year divided by the index in the earlier one.
| 2010 | $1,000.00 |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $1,031.57 |
| 2012 | $1,052.91 |
| 2013 | $1,068.34 |
| 2014 | $1,085.67 |
| 2015 | $1,086.95 |
| 2016 | $1,100.67 |
| 2017 | $1,124.11 |
| 2018 | $1,151.57 |
| 2019 | $1,172.44 |
| 2020 | $1,186.90 |
| 2021 | $1,242.66 |
| 2022 | $1,342.11 |
| 2023 | $1,397.36 |
| 2024 | $1,438.57 |
| 2025 | $1,476.42 |
| 2026 | $1,531.50 |
| target | $1,000.00 |
| 2011 | 3.16 |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 2.07 |
| 2013 | 1.46 |
| 2014 | 1.62 |
| 2015 | 0.12 |
| 2016 | 1.26 |
| 2017 | 2.13 |
| 2018 | 2.44 |
| 2019 | 1.81 |
| 2020 | 1.23 |
| 2021 | 4.7 |
| 2022 | 8 |
| 2023 | 4.12 |
| 2024 | 2.95 |
| 2025 | 2.63 |
| 2026 | 3.73 |
How the cpi inflation calculator — united states 2026 works
An inflation adjustment is one ratio: the price index in the later year divided by the index in the earlier one. Multiply the amount by that ratio and you have the sum that buys today what the original bought then. The index level itself means nothing on its own — the Australian series sits near 148 and the American near 334 for the same recent year, because they are counted from different base years — so only the ratio between two years of the SAME series is worth reading, and that is all this uses. The average annual rate is the geometric mean of the cumulative change, not the arithmetic one: prices compound, so a 55% rize over sixteen years is about 2.8% a year rather than 3.4%. The purchasing power lost is the gap between the adjusted amount and the original, and it is the honest way to state what cash in a drawer did over the period — not that the money shrank, but that what it buys did. Where the official index is not what you want to measure against — a private-school fee, a rent, a specific basket — the custom rate replaces the series with a flat compounding rate over the same span.
Formula: adjusted = amount × (CPI in the later year ÷ CPI in the earlier year) · average annual rate = (1 + cumulative)^(1 ÷ years) − 1
United States Inflation Notes
Formula
Inflation-adjusted amount = Original amount × (CPI in target year ÷ CPI in base year). For example, $1,000 in 2010 (CPI 218.056) adjusted to 2024 (CPI 313.689) = $1,000 × 313.689/218.056 = $1,439.
Data source
CPI data in this calculator is sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items. Data is updated to 2026. For the latest monthly release, visit BLS — Consumer Price Index.
Limitations
The all-items CPI is a national average. Your personal inflation rate depends on your specific spending mix. Renters and buyers in high-cost metros such as San Francisco, New York, or Miami often experienced far higher personal inflation in 2022–23 than the headline figure. The CPI does not capture every household’s cost of living equally.
US CPI historical dataCPI index values and annual rates 2010–2026
| Year | CPI index |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 218.1 |
| 2012 | 229.6 |
| 2014 | 236.7 |
| 2016 | 240.0 |
| 2018 | 251.1 |
| 2020 | 258.8 |
| 2021 | 271.0 (+4.7%) |
| 2022 | 292.7 (+8.0%) |
| 2023 | 304.7 (+4.1%) |
| 2024 | 313.7 (+2.9%) |
| 2025 | 321.9 (+2.6%) |
| 2026 | 334.0 (+3.5% yr/yr, Jun) |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U (U.S. city average, all items, 1982–84=100). Figures are annual averages; the 2026 entry shows the latest monthly reading (June 2026 = 334.0).
How inflation erodes savings and what return you need to maintain real value
The inflation break-even rate
To maintain the real value of savings, your after-tax return must exceed the inflation rate. At 3.5% inflation and a 24% marginal tax rate, you need a gross return of approximately 4.6% to break even in real terms. Most CDs in 2025–26 at 4.0–4.5% were approximately at this break-even level.
Rule of 72
Divide 72 by the inflation rate to estimate how many years it takes for prices to double. At 3.5% inflation, prices double approximately every 20.6 years. At 9% (near the June 2022 peak of 9.1%), prices would double about every 8 years.
How to use CPI data to calculate real wage changes and negotiate effectively
Calculating your real wage change
Enter your salary from a previous year as the “amount,” set the from year to when you last had a meaningful raise, and the to year to the current year. The adjusted amount shows what your salary needs to be today to maintain the same real purchasing power. If your current salary is below this figure, you have had a real pay cut.
Using CPI in salary negotiations
Present the CPI-adjusted figure to your employer alongside your current salary. Frame it as maintaining purchasing power rather than asking for a “raise.” Over 2022–2024, most US workers whose pay rose only 2–3% a year lost 5–10% of real purchasing power.
Frequently askedFrequently asked questions
What is the current US CPI inflation rate?
The June 2026 CPI release showed all-items inflation running at 3.5% over the prior 12 months. That is up from roughly 2.6–2.9% across 2024 and 2025, and well below the four-decade peak of 9.1% in June 2022. The Federal Reserve targets 2% inflation over the longer run. Check the latest monthly CPI release from the BLS for the current figure.
What does the CPI basket include?
The BLS CPI basket tracks prices for a representative mix of goods and services purchased by US households. The largest component is shelter (about a third of the index), followed by food (~13%), transportation (~16%, including gasoline and vehicles), medical care (~8%), and energy (~6%), with recreation, apparel, and education making up the rest. The BLS updates these weights annually.
How does the Federal Reserve use CPI?
The Federal Reserve sets the federal funds rate primarily to keep inflation near its 2% longer-run goal. When inflation runs hot, the Fed raises the rate to slow economic activity; when the economy weakens, it cuts rates to support spending. The 2022–23 hiking cycle — from near zero to a target range of 5.25–5.50% — was a direct response to CPI peaking at 9.1%.
Why doesn't CPI reflect my cost of living?
The CPI is a national average across all spending categories. Your personal inflation rate depends on your specific spending mix. If you spend a larger share on shelter (which rose faster than the overall index), or if you live in a high-cost metro such as San Francisco, New York, or Miami (where housing costs diverged from the national average), your personal inflation rate may be significantly higher than the headline CPI. The BLS also publishes regional and metro-area CPI series that can be more relevant to your situation.
Where these figures come from
Inflation and interest figures on this page are drawn from the BLS (Consumer Price Index), the Federal Reserve (the federal funds rate and published deposit averages), the FDIC (deposit insurance), and the CFPB (consumer guidance).
- Federal funds rate — Federal Reserve — Open Market Operations.
- Deposit interest-rate data — Federal Reserve — Selected Interest Rates (H.15).
- FDIC deposit insurance (up to $250k per depositor) — FDIC — Deposit insurance.
- Compound interest & savings strategy — CFPB — Consumer tools.
- Inflation & CPI — BLS — Consumer Price Index (latest release).
Last checked: April 2026. Rates and thresholds are reviewed against the source of record each November, when annual adjustments for the following tax year are published.
You might also be interested in 📉Inflation ImpactSavings erosion 📈Compound InterestBeat inflation 🎯Savings GoalInflation-adjusted target 📃Income TaxTake-home pay 📊Budget PlannerHousehold budget 💰Net WorthReal financial picture Rate this calculatorWorked examples
| Inputs | Inflation-adjusted amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 from 2010 in today’s money | $1,531 | sixteen years of the official index |
| Across the 2022 spike alone | $1,124 | two years that did what the previous ten did |
| A flat 3% instead of the index | $1,605 | for a basket the official index does not describe |
The sources behind this calculator
- CFA Institute — Quantitative Methods: The Time Value of Money — the discounting, annuity and IRR conventions used here
- US Federal Reserve — Regulation Z (Truth in Lending), APR calculation — why APR includes fees where a nominal rate does not
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — the US consumer finance regulator
Last checked: September 2026. These are the standard textbook formulas; the conventions named are those of the CFA Institute curriculum and ISO 80000 usage.