Inflation Calculator — Calculations & Slabs for FY 2026-27

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a metric published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that tracks the average price change over time for everyday consumer goods and services. This calculator uses historical annual average CPI-U data to accurately convert the buying power of a dollar between any two years from 1913 to 2026.

Buying power equivalence shows how much money you would need in a target year to purchase the exact same basket of goods as a given amount of money in a starting year. For example, because of inflation, a basket of groceries that cost $20 in 1970 requires a much larger amount of cash to purchase today.

Future inflation projection uses compound growth mathematics: Future Cost = Current Cost × (1 + Inflation Rate)^Years. For instance, if you project a $100 expense over 10 years at a constant 3% annual inflation rate, the future cost will rise to $134.39.

Inflation increases the prices of goods and services, meaning each dollar you hold buys a smaller fraction of a product over time. If your cash savings do not grow at a rate that matches or beats inflation, your real wealth and purchasing power will shrink.

Since 1913, the long-term average annual inflation rate in the United States has hovered around 3.1% to 3.2% per year. However, inflation rates vary wildly: they spiked above 13% in 1980 and fell below zero (deflation) during the Great Depression of the 1930s.