Estimator
What's My Dollar Worth? Inflation Value Check
What's my dollar worth compared with the year you earned it? Prices compound the same way investments do, which is why an income that has not risen for a decade has quietly become a pay cut.
Your details
US CPI inflation has averaged about 3% a year over the long run.
Worth today
$67,196
$50,000 from 10 years ago buys what $67,196 buys now
- Purchasing power lost
- $12,795
- Value of $1 then, in today's money
- $1.34
- Needed in 20 years to match
- $90,306
- Cumulative price rise
- 34.4%
How you compare: US consumer prices have risen about 3% a year on average over the past century, meaning purchasing power roughly halves every 24 years.
How we calculate this
Amounts are converted using compound annual inflation, which is how the Consumer Price Index actually behaves: each year's rise applies to the already-higher level.
The CPI measures a fixed basket of goods and services for urban consumers. Your personal rate differs — heavy spending on rent, childcare or healthcare typically runs hotter.
The forward projection assumes the same average rate continues, which is a planning assumption rather than a forecast.
For legal, tax or contractual purposes, use the official CPI series for the exact months involved rather than an annual average.
Why a flat salary is a pay cut
At 3% inflation, an unchanged salary loses about a quarter of its buying power in ten years. Nothing appears on a payslip; the money simply covers less.
This is the strongest argument for negotiating regularly rather than waiting to be noticed: an inflation-matching rise keeps you level, and anything below it moves you backwards.
What inflation does to savings
Cash held at 0.4% while prices rise 3% loses value every year with perfect reliability. That is the real cost of leaving a large balance in a low-rate current account.
It is also the argument for keeping only the emergency fund in cash and investing longer-term money, where returns have historically outpaced prices.
Inflation-linked protections
Social Security payments carry an annual cost-of-living adjustment, and federal tax brackets and the standard deduction are indexed too. Many private pensions and most rental agreements are not.
Series I savings bonds and Treasury inflation-protected securities are designed to track prices directly, which makes them the usual tools for money that must hold real value.
Frequently asked questions
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