How do I calculate what money was worth in the past?

Choose a dollar amount and a starting year, and the calculator multiplies it by the ratio of the current Consumer Price Index to the index in that year. This shows the equivalent value in today's dollars and the change in purchasing power.

What is purchasing power?

Purchasing power is how much you can buy with a given amount of money. As prices rise with inflation, the same dollar buys less over time. This calculator shows how much purchasing power has been gained or lost between two years.

What data does this inflation calculator use?

It uses Consumer Price Index figures based on data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for benchmark years from 1913 through the present, allowing comparisons across more than a century.

Can I convert today's dollars back to a past year?

Yes. Switch to the Today to Past mode, enter an amount, and select a target year to see what today's money would have been equivalent to in that earlier year.

Inflation Calculator — How Much Has Money Lost Its Value?

See how purchasing power has changed over time

To calculate inflation's impact: divide the price in the target year by the price in the base year, then subtract 1 and multiply by 100. $100 in 1990 is equivalent to approximately $236 in 2025 due to cumulative inflation. The average annual US inflation rate since 1990 is 2.6%. Use the interactive tool below.

Quick Answer

$100 in 1990 equals approximately $236 today due to inflation. The US dollar has lost 57% of its purchasing power since 1990. Average annual inflation in the US is 3.1% over the past 30 years. At 3% inflation money loses half its purchasing power every 23 years.

Inflation is the rate at which the general price of goods and services rises over time, reducing purchasing power. This calculator shows how much a dollar amount from any past year is worth today and how much today's dollars will be worth in the future at different inflation rates.

Built by Pierre — MBA, Business Strategist & AI Consultant, Founder of DayblipAbout the author →

Amount ($)From Year

$394.42

+294.4% purchasing power change

$100 in 1980 = $394.42 in 2026

💵 What was $100 worth? (in 2026 dollars)

Year	$100 then = today
1913	$3,282.83
1920	$1,625.00
1930	$1,946.11
1940	$2,321.43
1950	$1,348.55
1960	$1,097.97
1970	$837.63
1980	$394.42
1990	$248.66
2000	$188.73
2010	$149.01
2020	$125.58

🛒 Common Items — Then vs Now

Item	Then	Now	Change
Gallon of Gas	$0.29 (1970)	$3.50	+1,107%
Movie Ticket	$1.55 (1970)	$15.00	+868%
New Car	$3,500 (1970)	$48,000	+1,271%
New Home	$23,450 (1970)	$420,000	+1,691%
Loaf of Bread	$0.25 (1970)	$4.50	+1,700%

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CPI data based on US Bureau of Labor Statistics. For educational purposes only.

Frequently Asked Questions

Inflation is the rate at which the general price level of goods and services rises over time, reducing purchasing power. When inflation is 3 percent per year, something that costs $100 today will cost $103 next year.

Inflation calculations use the Consumer Price Index published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CPI tracks the average price change over time for a fixed basket of consumer goods and services.

The US has averaged approximately 3.1 percent annual inflation since 1926. The 2021 to 2023 period saw elevated inflation peaking above 9 percent in mid-2022 before declining. Long-term financial planning typically assumes 2 to 3 percent annual inflation.

Inflation erodes purchasing power. $100,000 in savings earning 1 percent interest while inflation runs at 3 percent loses roughly 2 percent of real value per year. After 20 years at that gap, the real purchasing power drops to about $67,000 in today's dollars.