How Much Has Inflation Cost You?

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).