What does the Inflation Calculator not do?

It does not predict inflation. For the future, the rate is an assumption you set. It does not know what you spend money on, so your own inflation may differ from the average. It does not model your investments, your interest or a retirement plan. It does not model prices that rise in some years and fall in others. For the future you set one steady rate, and it can be negative for falling prices.

Inflation Calculator: What Is Your Money Really Worth?

What was your money worth then, and what will it be worth later? This free inflation calculator shows how rising prices change what an amount can buy, in the past or in the years ahead.

Plan your finances against inflation

Worth over time, or what you'll need.

What do you want to find out?

What was it worth?

What will it be worth?

How much will I need?

You know an amount and a year in the past. We find how much you'd need in the latest year with data to buy the same thing. You know an amount today and how many years ahead. We find its buying power then.You know what you want to buy at today's prices, and in how many years. We find what it will cost then.

Amount

The amount you have today.

Years from now

How far ahead you are looking. It starts at 10.

Your estimate

This assumes a steady rate. Real inflation moves year to year.

Inflation Calculator: Help

What this calculator is for

Money does not keep its value. Prices rise a little almost every year, so the same amount buys a little less each year. Over ten or twenty years, that little adds up to a lot.

The Inflation Calculator turns that slow change into a clear number. It shows what an amount of money is really worth once rising prices are counted: an amount from the past in today's money, or an amount you have today in the money of the years ahead.

It is built for everyday questions. Comparing an old salary or price with today. Checking what your savings will buy later. Working out how much you need for a future goal. It puts the facts on the table; the decisions stay with you.

Three ways to ask

The calculator looks at inflation from three angles. Each one is a card at the top of the calculator, under the question What do you want to find out?. You choose by what you already know:

What was it worth? You know an amount from a past year. You get what it is worth in today's money, using the real inflation of every year since.
What will it be worth? You have an amount today. You get what it will buy in the years ahead, at an inflation rate you assume.
How much will I need? You know what you want to be able to buy, at today's prices. You get the amount you will need later.

None of the three is the "simple" or the "advanced" one. They are three sides of the same question.

Two kinds of answer

Every question gives you two answers, one after the other.

Your estimate is the quick one. One sentence, one number, and it updates while you type. Before you have typed enough, the card shows a ring (for example "0 of 2") and a short list of what is still needed. The ring fills and the list gets shorter as you type. When the answer appears, it is the one you came for, and for many people it is enough.

Under it, one more sentence previews the answer in your own numbers, and changes with the question you asked. For a future amount it might read: "Left as it is, your $10,000 buys about $2,559 less in 10 years." Below it sits a button: 3 things worth knowing about your money's buying power. The number is usually 3, but 2 when a future rate of 0% leaves nothing to show in the first part. The button appears only when there is a real answer.

This is the part that goes beyond the number. It opens under the title What your numbers reveal, in parts. A closer look at your numbers shows a chart of your money over the years and what is behind the answer. Why real life may differ from your plan shows what can make your own result different. Your next question points to the calculator people usually try next. Click a part's heading to close it, and click it again to open it. Where a point needs more words, a small See the explanation button opens a short example. Under the parts, a Please note box says this is not financial advice: a calculation from official price data for a past amount, a projection for the two future questions.

It takes a couple of minutes to read. Those minutes can change how you read your own number, and sometimes a decision you were about to make.

What you see inside the parts is different for each question, because each question hides a different trap. The parts always come in the same order.

Start over, next to the button, clears everything. If you click it by mistake, Undo brings your numbers back.

Your country and currency

The calculator suggests a country from your browser's time zone, not from your IP address. From the country it sets your currency and the inflation figures it uses. You can change it.

You will see the result in a line like this, just above the fields:

If the guess is wrong, click Not your country? Change it and choose yours. You can also change the currency next to any amount.

The line changes with the question you pick. For a past amount it shows which years have data. For a future amount it shows the inflation rate it will assume.

Three scenarios, three people

Instead of a dry tour of every box and button, this part shows the calculator through the eyes of three people. Each of them brings one of the three questions above, with real numbers:

Scenario 1: What was it worth? Maya remembers what she earned in 1985 and wonders what that was really worth.
Scenario 2: What will it be worth? Sofia keeps her savings in the bank and wonders what they will buy in ten years.
Scenario 3: How much will I need? Olivia is saving for her children's college and wonders how much she will need.

Open the scenario that sounds most like your own question. You do not need to read all three.

Start here when you have an amount from the past and want to know what it means in today's money. An old salary, the price of your first car, what your parents paid for their house.

This question does not assume a future inflation rate. It uses the published yearly consumer-price inflation figures for your country, from the World Bank.

Maya's question

Maya is 67 and a retired nurse. Her first full year as a nurse, in 1985, she earned $22,000. It felt like a good salary then. She wants to know what it was really worth.

What Maya enters

She clicks What was it worth?. The line under the cards tells her what she needs to know and what she will get back.

In Amount she types 22,000. In Year the amount is from she types 1985.

The years you can choose depend on your country's data. For the United States, the calculator currently has data from 1960 through 2024. The line above the fields always shows the range for your country.

Maya's estimate

To buy in 2024 what her $22,000 bought in 1985, Maya would need about $64,158. Her first salary was worth almost three times what the number on it says.

The answer stops at 2024 because that is the latest year this calculator has for the United States. Other countries may end a year earlier or later.

What the insights show Maya

She clicks 3 things worth knowing about your money's buying power. The first part, A closer look at your numbers, opens with a chart.

The flat line is her $22,000 on paper ("Nominal amount"). It never moves. The rising line is the amount with the same buying power, what she would need to buy the same things, year after year. Under the chart, one sentence gives the gap: $42,158 more by 2024. That is what inflation did to that salary.

Under the chart comes a Compounding point. Then Why real life may differ from your plan, with Your inflation. Then Your next question.

Under Compounding: Inflation compounds: it isn't as simple as multiplying the yearly rate by the number of years. From 1985 to 2024 prices rose about 192% in total, not the 109% you get by adding up the yearly rates. Open See the explanation to see why: each year's increase lands on prices that are already higher.
Under Your inflation: Your own experience of inflation may differ from the headline number. The headline figure for the United States averaged about 2.8% a year from 1985 to 2024. What you spend money on may have risen more or less. Open See the explanation for the example: if most of your money goes on things that rose faster, medical care for example, your own inflation was higher.
Also under Your inflation: A raise smaller than your own inflation rate is a real pay cut. From 1985 to 2024 prices rose about 192% in total. A raise of less than that over the same years bought less, even though the pay went up. For Maya this is the real question behind her old salary.
Under Your next question: two links, to the Compound Interest Calculator ("Where could your money grow instead of losing value?") and to the CD Calculator ("Want a rate that is fixed in advance?").

Maya's doubt

"Another website gave me a different number. Which one is right?"

A different number does not mean one of them is wrong, but it does not prove both are right either. Check four things on both sites: the country, the year the result is stated in, where the data comes from, and how it is counted. This calculator uses yearly averages from the World Bank; others use monthly figures from a national statistics office. Those choices alone can move the result by a few percent. A large difference usually points to a different country, a different end year, or a typo.

Start here when you have an amount today and want to know what it will buy later.

Nobody knows future inflation. So this question uses one yearly rate that you choose, and applies it to every year ahead. It starts with a suggestion: your country's latest yearly figure from the World Bank, how much prices rose in that year, not a forecast.

Sofia's question

Sofia is 34 and a freelance designer. She keeps $40,000 in an ordinary bank account, to be safe. She wants to know what it will buy in 10 years if she just leaves it there.

What Sofia enters

She clicks What will it be worth?.

In Amount she types 40,000. Years from now already shows 10, so she leaves it. Then she opens More options to see which inflation rate the calculator assumes.

Assumed future inflation rate shows 2.95%, the United States' figure for 2024 from the World Bank. It is a starting point, not a forecast. Sofia can type her own guess. The note under the field always says whether the rate is the suggestion or her own number.

Sofia's estimate

In ten years, her $40,000 will buy about what $29,909 buys today.

This example keeps the balance at $40,000. It does not add any interest the account may earn. It shows what inflation alone does to money that does not grow.

What the insights show Sofia

In A closer look at your numbers, the buying-power line goes down this time. The account will still say $40,000. What it can buy drops by $10,091.

Under Compounding: At 2.95% for 10 years, prices rise about 34% in total, not the 30% that multiplying gives. The same effect Maya saw over 39 years, only smaller.
Under Keeping pace: money that does not grow: A balance that's growing can still be losing value. To keep the buying power of $40,000, a balance would need to reach about $53,496 in 10 years.
Under Rate: one steady rate for every year, in the part Why real life may differ from your plan: This calculator uses one flat assumed rate for every future year. Real inflation moves year to year. In this result every year uses the same 2.95%. Treat the result as an estimate. The rate you entered applies to everything you buy; your own prices can rise faster or slower, depending on what you spend on.

Sofia's doubt

"But my bank pays me interest. How can I be losing money?"

The balance goes up, so it looks like a gain. The question is whether it goes up faster than prices. To stay even, Sofia's $40,000 needs to become about $53,496 in ten years, after any tax on the interest. Whatever her account pays, that number is the line between keeping buying power and losing it.

Start here when you know what you want to be able to buy, at today's prices, and want to know how much money that will take later.

It is Scenario 2 turned around. Same assumed rate, same years. This time you start from the goal.

Olivia's question

Olivia is 45, a teacher and a mother of two. A year of college costs about $30,000 today. Her oldest starts in 10 years. She wants to know how much that same year will cost then.

What Olivia enters

She clicks How much will I need?.

The first field is now called Target amount: what she wants the money to buy, at today's prices. She types 30,000. Years from now stays at 10.

The rate is the same suggested 2.95%, shown in the line above the fields. She could change it under More options, as Sofia did.

Olivia's estimate

If college costs rise at the same rate as prices in general, 2.95% a year, Olivia will need about $40,122 in ten years to pay for what $30,000 buys today. It is a result of that assumption, not a forecast of college prices.

What the insights show Olivia

The chart shows the other side of her number. If she simply puts $30,000 aside and leaves it, in ten years it will buy about $22,431 worth of today's college. The sentence under the chart also states the $40,122 she would need to keep the buying power of $30,000.

Under Keeping pace: money that does not grow: A fixed future payment, like a pension with no cost-of-living increase, is worth less every year, even though the number on paper never changes. A fixed payment of $30,000 in 10 years would buy about $22,431 in today's money.
Under Rate: one steady rate for every year, in the part Why real life may differ from your plan: This calculator uses one flat assumed rate, the same 2.95% every year. The rate you entered applies to everything you buy; your own prices can rise faster or slower, depending on what you spend on.
Under Your next question: three links for this question, to the Compound Interest Calculator ("Where could your money grow instead of losing value?"), the Savings Goal Calculator ("Want to know how much to save each month to get there?"), and the CD Calculator ("Want a rate that is fixed in advance?").

Olivia's doubt

"College costs go up faster than prices in general. Is this number right for me?"

The suggested rate is an average across everything people buy. If the thing you are saving for rises faster, the average is too low for you. Open More options and type a higher rate. The answer changes as you type, so you can see the range between a careful guess and a worried one.

The rest of the page

The three scenarios cover the calculator itself. The parts below explain what else the page offers. They work the same whichever scenario you chose.

Explore What Inflation Does to Your Money

THE BIGGER PICTURE

What a dollar actually does over time

What your result really means, what moves it, and what this calculator can’t tell you.

Most people don’t land here just to “calculate inflation.” They land here because a specific number stopped adding up: an old salary they’re comparing to a job offer, or a retirement goal they’re trying to set for years from now.

The future number on this page is not a forecast. You set one assumed yearly rate, and the calculator applies it consistently every year. Nobody, including this calculator, can tell you what inflation will actually be next year. Change the rate to see how much that assumption actually matters to your result.

Four things that catch people off guard

A growing balance can still be a real loss. If your savings account pays 2% and inflation is running at 3%, your balance goes up every year and you still lose buying power every year. The account statement never shows this.
Inflation compounds, so the total is bigger than it looks. A 3% rate for one year is 3%. A 3% rate for twenty years isn’t 60%, it’s closer to 81%, because each year’s increase applies to a price that’s already higher than the year before.
A fixed payment quietly shrinks every year. A pension or annuity with no cost-of-living adjustment pays the same dollar amount for as long as it runs. What it can actually buy shrinks every single year, even though the number on the statement never changes.
A raise smaller than your own cost increases is a pay cut. If prices in your own life are rising 5% a year and your raise is 2%, you’re earning less in real terms than before the raise.

Common situations include comparing an old salary to a new offer, checking whether a savings account is keeping up, and setting a future goal amount for a specific number of years out.

Worth testing while you’re here

Run the future scenario once at a lower rate and once at a higher one, so you can see the range rather than one fixed answer. If a pension or fixed payment is part of your plan, run that number through separately.

Thinking about retirement income specifically? The Savings Withdrawal Calculator picks up from here and shows how long a balance actually lasts once you factor in withdrawals and growth, not just rising prices.

What this calculator can’t tell you

It applies one flat rate to every future year, while real inflation moves up and down year to year. It also doesn’t know your personal spending mix. The published rate is an average across everything people buy. If you spend more than average on something like medical care, and prices for it are rising faster than prices overall, your own personal rate can run above the headline number. (This example follows the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; the same idea applies in any country, using that country’s own price data.)

📖 Financial terms, explained

Words that appear in this calculator or on this page, in plain English.

Inflation: Prices rising over time, so the same money buys less.
Inflation rate: The yearly percentage by which prices rise. 3% means something that cost $100 last year costs $103 this year.
Consumer Price Index (CPI): A measure of the average change over time in the prices people pay for a basket of everyday goods and services. Most countries publish their inflation rate from it. US Bureau of Labor Statistics: CPI ↗
Buying power: What an amount of money can actually buy. When prices rise, the same amount buys less.
Nominal amount: The number of dollars, before rising prices are taken into account.
Compounded inflation: Price rises build on each other, so the total is more than the yearly rates added up. 3% a year for 20 years is about 81%, not 60%.
Deflation: Prices falling over time. This calculator does not model it.
Cost-of-living adjustment: A raise to a pension or other payment that follows rising prices. Without one, a fixed payment buys less every year.
Suggested inflation rate: The starting rate the calculator fills in: the latest yearly “inflation, consumer prices” figure for your country from the World Bank. A starting point, not a forecast. World Bank data ↗
Assumed future inflation rate: The one yearly rate you choose for the years ahead. It is your assumption, not a prediction.

Common questions about inflation

Does this calculator predict future inflation?

No. Future results use one rate you set yourself, which you can change at any time. Nobody can reliably predict what inflation will actually be.

Why is my result different from another inflation calculator?

Two calculators can land on different numbers if they pull from different data sources, cover slightly different date ranges, or round differently along the way. Check which rate and which time period each one is actually using before assuming one of them is wrong.

What inflation rate should I use for the future?

The calculator suggests a starting rate based on your country’s own recent data. That’s a convenient starting value, not a recommended forecast. Try a lower and a higher rate too, to see how much that assumption actually matters to your result.

Inflation Calculator (Excel)

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