Inflation calculator
See what today's money will be worth in the future, or what a past amount equals today using US CPI data from 2000 to 2025.
Future cost
Project how prices and purchasing power change at a steady inflation rate.
The US long-run average is close to 3%. Try 2% for the Federal Reserve target or 5% to stress test childcare and tuition.
Year by year
How the cost of the same basket and the buying power of $1,000 change each year.
| Year | Cost of basket | Buying power |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $1,030 | $971 |
| Year 2 | $1,061 | $943 |
| Year 3 | $1,093 | $915 |
| Year 4 | $1,126 | $888 |
| Year 5 | $1,159 | $863 |
| Year 6 | $1,194 | $837 |
| Year 7 | $1,230 | $813 |
| Year 8 | $1,267 | $789 |
| Year 9 | $1,305 | $766 |
| Year 10 | $1,344 | $744 |
Warren provides educational information, not individualized financial, tax or legal advice. Read our disclaimers.
Why inflation matters for families
Childcare and education rise faster
Daycare, tuition and college costs have grown faster than the overall index for decades. If you are saving for a child, plan with a rate above the headline number.
Fixed-rate debt gets cheaper in real terms
A fixed mortgage payment stays the same while prices and wages rise, so the payment takes a smaller share of income each year.
Cash savings lose ground
Money in a low-interest account buys less every year. Keep your emergency fund in a high-yield account and invest money you will not need for five years or more.
Index your pay and savings targets
Negotiate raises against inflation, not just last year's salary, and bump your automatic savings transfers each year so the real amount you save stays flat.
Frequently asked questions
- What is inflation and how is it measured?
- Inflation is the rate at which prices rise over time, which means each dollar buys a little less. In the US it is usually measured with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a basket of everyday goods and services tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The past prices mode of this calculator uses the annual average change in CPI-U for each year.
- What inflation rate should I use for future planning?
- A long-run assumption of 2.5% to 3% is common for US planning. The Federal Reserve targets 2%, but the 25 years from 2000 to 2025 averaged closer to 2.6%, with spikes above 4% in 2021 through 2023. If your biggest costs are childcare, college or healthcare, run the numbers again at 4% to 6%, since those categories have risen faster than the overall index.
- What is the difference between future cost and purchasing power?
- Future cost answers: what will the same basket of goods cost later? Purchasing power answers: what will the same number of dollars buy later? They are two sides of the same calculation. At 3% for 10 years, $1,000 of goods costs about $1,344, and $1,000 in cash only buys about $744 worth of today's goods.
- How much should my salary rise to keep up with inflation?
- To hold your real income steady, your pay needs to grow at the same rate as prices. The salary figure in the future cost results shows the pay you would need in the final year to match today's purchasing power. A raise below the inflation rate is a real pay cut, even if the dollar amount went up.
- Is inflation always bad for my finances?
- Not entirely. Inflation hurts cash savings and anyone on a fixed income, but it helps borrowers with fixed-rate debt, because the payments stay the same while wages and prices rise. The goal is not to avoid inflation but to plan for it: keep an emergency fund in a high-yield account, invest long-term money in assets that grow, and revisit savings targets every year.
Want a budget that keeps pace with prices?
Warren AI tracks your real spending, flags categories that are rising faster than inflation and adjusts your savings targets each year.