Inflation calculator
What an amount from one month buys in another, measured by the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U), the inflation figure in the monthly CPI report.
CPI-U from Jan 1913 through Sep 2026
Compare two months
CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (1982–84 = 100), from the Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED (CPIAUCNS). The result is the amount times the ratio of the two months’ index values.
Reading the result
CPI-U tracks the prices of a broad basket of goods and services that urban households buy. Your own costs can rise faster or slower depending on what you spend on: rent, for example, has a large weight in the index, so a renter whose rent jumped will feel more inflation than the average.
The newest month is added after each CPI release. For the inflation rate behind Social Security raises and I bonds, see the COLA and I bond trackers.