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Inflation Calculator (US & Canada)
See what a dollar from any year since 1950 is worth today, using official consumer price index averages for the US and Canada.
Your Dollars, Then and Now
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About this calculator
Inflation quietly changes what a dollar means: $100 in 2000 doesn't buy what $100 buys today. This calculator uses annual-average consumer price index data (the BLS CPI-U for the United States and Statistics Canada's all-items CPI for Canada) to translate an amount from one year into its equivalent in another, along with the cumulative and average annual inflation over the span. It works in both directions, from 1950 to the present.
Inflation FAQ
How is the adjustment calculated?
Equivalent value = amount × CPI in the end year ÷ CPI in the start year. If prices doubled between your two years, the CPI ratio is 2 and $100 becomes $200 of equivalent purchasing power.
What exactly is the CPI?
The consumer price index tracks the average price of a fixed basket of goods and services (food, shelter, transportation, and so on) as measured by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and Statistics Canada. It's the standard official measure of consumer inflation in each country.
Why does my personal inflation feel higher than the official number?
CPI is a national average basket. If your spending is concentrated in categories that rose faster (rent, groceries, or insurance in recent years), your personal inflation rate can be meaningfully higher (or lower) than the average.
Can I convert backwards in time?
Yes: set the end year earlier than the start year and the tool deflates the amount instead, showing what today's dollars would have been worth then.