Discover how the purchasing power of money changes over time
See what money from the past would be worth today
Calculate how much money you would have needed in a past year to have the same purchasing power as a certain amount today.
Track how your money's value changed year by year
Compare the same amount across different time periods
Compare salaries across different years in today's dollars.
Different goods and services inflate at different rates
Select a category to see how prices have changed differently from overall inflation.
Historical CPI data and key inflation milestones
This chart shows the annual inflation rate from 1950 to 2024. Each bar represents how much prices increased (or decreased) that year compared to the previous year.
💡 Click on any bar to see the exact inflation rate for that year!
Oil crises led to double-digit inflation, peaking at 14.8% in 1980.
The "Great Moderation" saw inflation average around 2-3% annually.
Brief deflation followed by near-zero inflation for several years.
Post-pandemic inflation reached 9.1% in June 2022, highest since 1981.
| Period | $1 in Starting Year | Equals Today | Total Increase |
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Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices rises over time.
Nominal value is the face value; real value accounts for inflation.
Strategies to maintain purchasing power over time.
Challenge yourself with these fun mini-games about inflation!
Can you guess what year $100 would have been worth this much?
If you had $50, how many of this item could you buy in each era?
Compare two amounts from different years!
Which category inflated the most?
Test your knowledge of inflation history!