Interactive Tool
How Much Has Inflation Cost You?
Enter your birth year and current salary to see how inflation has eroded purchasing power over your lifetime. Powered by live Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI data.
1983–2008
Since you were born in 1990
59.8%
of the dollar's purchasing power has been eroded
Total Inflation
148.9%
over 36 years
$1 Now Worth
40¢
in 1990 dollars
Equivalent Salary
$186,650
to match 1990 purchasing power
Est. Lifetime Cost
$1,563,099
cumulative purchasing power loss
Inflation by Decade
Since 1990, inflation has eroded 59.8% of the dollar's value.
How It Works
This calculator uses the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CPI measures the average change in prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services.
When we say “inflation has eroded X% of purchasing power,” it means a dollar today buys X% less than it did in your birth year. The “equivalent salary” shows what your current salary would need to be to have the same buying power as in the past.
The cumulative cost estimate multiplies the annual purchasing power loss by your salary over each year of your working life (estimated from age 22).