Inflation-Adjusted Salary Calculator
Enter a salary, the year it was paid and a year to compare (1970 on) to get its US CPI-U equivalent, then see whether your pay or an offer keeps up. How it works
Use the Inflation-Adjusted Salary Calculator
About the Inflation-Adjusted Salary Calculator
$75,000 in 2021 had the same buying power as $89,087 in 2025, 18.8% more. The inflation-adjusted salary calculator multiplies the salary by the ratio of the US CPI-U annual averages of the two years, salary × CPI(to year) ÷ CPI(from year), here 75,000 × 321.9 ÷ 271.0. If your pay went from $75,000 to $85,000 over those years, enter $85,000 as the salary you earn or are offered in 2025 and the calculator shows it is short by $4,087, 4.6% of the equivalent. A chart under the result shows the pay needed in each year in between: $81,006 in 2022, $84,327 in 2023 and $86,817 in 2024.
What an older salary equals in 2025
| Salary | 2025 equivalent | Change | Average inflation a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 in 1980 | $195,328 | +290.7% | 3.07% |
| $50,000 in 1990 | $123,145 | +146.3% | 2.61% |
| $50,000 in 2000 | $93,467 | +86.9% | 2.53% |
| $100,000 in 2015 | $135,823 | +35.8% | 3.11% |
| $75,000 in 2020 | $93,286 | +24.4% | 4.46% |
| $75,000 in 2021 | $89,087 | +18.8% | 4.40% |
Historical CPI mode, rounded to the whole dollar as the calculator shows it. The average is the compound yearly rate over the span.
US CPI-U annual averages the calculator uses
| Year | CPI-U (1982-84 = 100) |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 38.8 |
| 1980 | 82.4 |
| 1990 | 130.7 |
| 2000 | 172.2 |
| 2010 | 218.1 |
| 2020 | 258.8 |
| 2021 | 271.0 |
| 2022 | 292.7 |
| 2023 | 304.7 |
| 2024 | 313.7 |
| 2025 | 321.9 |
From the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis table of the BLS series. 2025 is the last published annual average; later years are not data and continue at 3% a year.
How to use this tool
- Enter the salary and the year it was paid (From Year).
- Pick the year to compare with (To Year). It can be earlier, to see what today's pay was worth in the past.
- Keep Historical CPI, or switch to Custom Rate and type a yearly rate from 0 to 50%.
- Optionally, type the salary you earn or are offered in the To Year to see how far it is ahead of or short of the equivalent, in dollars and as a percent of it.
Frequently asked questions
- How much do I need to earn to keep up with inflation?
- Multiply your old salary by CPI of this year ÷ CPI of the old year. $75,000 in 2020 needed to be $93,286 in 2025 (75,000 × 321.9 ÷ 258.8), 24.4% more. If your pay is below that figure, your raises lost ground to prices.
- Is my raise or job offer keeping up with inflation?
- Enter your old salary and its year, set To Year to the year of the new pay, and type the new figure in the optional salary field. The calculator compares it with the inflation-adjusted equivalent: $85,000 in 2025 against $75,000 in 2021 is short by $4,087 (4.6%), while $95,000 is ahead by $5,913 (6.6%).
- Which inflation figures does it use?
- The US Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), annual averages for 1969 to 2025, as published in the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis table. It is a national average, so it does not show the cost of living in one city or another country.
- Why is 2026 not real data?
- An annual average exists only once the year is over, and the last one in the tool is 2025. For any later year the calculator continues prices at 3% a year, so $60,000 in 2021 becomes $73,407 in 2026 with four published years and one assumed one.
- What does Custom Rate do?
- It compounds one rate you choose every year instead of using CPI: salary × (1 + rate)^years. At 3%, $60,000 grows to $80,635 over ten years. Use it for a future salary target.
- Can I convert a salary back to an earlier year?
- Yes, set To Year before From Year and the calculator divides instead. $60,000 in 2025 bought what $50,513 bought in 2021.
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