Inflation Calculator
Value of money over time.
Value of money over time.
This is a simplified estimate for general information only — not financial, tax, or legal advice. Real figures vary by lender, rate, jurisdiction and your own circumstances, so confirm with a qualified professional before acting.
How to use Inflation Calculator
- Enter an amount, a start year, and an end year
- Set the average annual inflation rate to compound
- Read the equivalent value and total percentage price change
About Inflation Calculator
The Inflation Calculator shows how the buying power of a dollar amount changes across years. Enter an amount, a start year, an end year, and an average annual inflation rate, and it compounds that rate over the gap between the years to reveal the equivalent value and the total percentage change in prices. It's a quick way to see what a sum of US dollars from one year would be worth in another, or how much prices have climbed over a decade.
Because you supply the rate yourself, it works as a US dollar inflation calculator when you plug in the average US figure, but it isn't locked to any one country or currency — enter a rate that matches the United States, another economy, or a specific historical era. You can run it forward to project future buying power, or backward to an earlier year, in which case it discounts the amount to show what today's money would have been worth then. It answers everyday questions like "how much is $100 from 1990 worth now" as readily as long-range planning scenarios.
A second mode answers a more personal question: did something actually beat inflation? Enter a before-and-after amount — an old and new salary, last year's and this year's rent, or a pension before and after a cost-of-living adjustment — along with the number of years and a rate, and it shows the nominal change, the inflation over that period, the amount you'd have needed just to keep pace, and the real change, telling you plainly whether it gained or lost buying power.
It's completely free with no sign-up, no limits, and no ads getting in the way. Every calculation runs entirely in your browser, so the amounts and years you type never leave your device and are never sent to a server.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the inflation calculator free to use?
- Yes, it is 100% free with no account, sign-up, or subscription required. You can run as many calculations as you like.
- Can I use this as a US dollar inflation calculator?
- Yes. Enter your dollar amount and use an average US inflation rate for the period, then set your start and end years to see the equivalent value in US dollars. Because you control the rate, the same tool also works for other currencies and countries.
- How much would $100 from a past year be worth today?
- Enter 100 as the amount, the earlier year as the start year, the current year as the end year, and an average annual rate. The calculator compounds that rate across the years to show today's equivalent in dollars. Adjust the rate to match the era you care about.
- How does the calculator work?
- It applies compound inflation using the formula amount x (1 + rate/100) ^ (end year - start year). This gives the equivalent value in the target year plus the cumulative percentage change in prices.
- What inflation rate should I enter?
- Use the average annual rate for your period. Long-run consumer inflation in the U.S. has averaged roughly 3% per year, but you can enter any rate to match a specific country, era, or scenario.
- Can I calculate backwards to an earlier year?
- Yes. If your end year is before your start year, the tool discounts the amount instead, showing what today's money would have been worth in that earlier year.
- Can I project future buying power?
- Yes. Set the end year later than the start year and enter an expected average rate, and the calculator shows how much a given amount would need to be to hold the same buying power in that future year.
- Can I use it for currencies other than the US dollar?
- Yes. The math only depends on the rate you enter, not on a fixed currency, so you can model inflation for any currency by supplying that country's average annual rate.
- Why does my result differ from official inflation figures?
- This tool uses one fixed average rate you provide, while official figures use actual year-by-year CPI data that varies. Use it for quick estimates and planning rather than exact historical values.
- Is my data uploaded or stored anywhere?
- No. All calculations happen locally in your browser using JavaScript. The amounts and years you enter are never uploaded, saved, or shared with any server.