Inflation Calculator (USA)
See how inflation eats into dollars, paychecks, and tax thresholds. Uses BLS CPI-U annual averages for 1990–2024, plus a projection for future years. Three tools in one: purchasing-power lookup, salary-erosion model, and the genuinely US-specific story — unindexed federal thresholds (Social Security taxation, NIIT, Additional Medicare, SALT) that inflation silently drags more taxpayers across every year.
Years 1990–2024 use BLS CPI-U data. Future years use a 2.5% projection.
$50,000 in 2000 has the same purchasing power as
$91,083
in 2024 dollars
Cumulative inflation
82.2%
Annualized rate
2.53%
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, annual averages (1982-84 = 100).
Equivalent = Amount × (CPIto / CPIfrom).
Frequently asked questions
What data source does this inflation calculator use?
We use the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, annual averages (1982-84 = 100). This is the standard measure published by BLS and referenced by most federal inflation-indexing provisions.
Do US federal tax brackets adjust for inflation?
Yes. Federal income tax brackets, the standard deduction, and most retirement contribution limits are adjusted annually by the IRS (via Revenue Procedures) using CPI measures. This means pure bracket creep at the federal level is mostly absent. The real bite comes from dollar-denominated thresholds that Congress never indexed.
Which federal tax thresholds are NOT indexed for inflation?
Several major thresholds have been frozen in nominal dollars for decades: Social Security benefit taxation ($25k/$32k for 50%, $34k/$44k for 85%, unchanged since 1984/1993); the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax threshold ($200k/$250k, unindexed since 2013); the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax ($200k/$250k, unindexed since 2013); the $10,000 SALT deduction cap (2018); and the $3,000 capital loss offset against ordinary income (1978). Each year inflation pushes more taxpayers over these lines.
How is purchasing power calculated?
Purchasing power equivalence is computed as: Equivalent = Amount × (CPI_to / CPI_from). For example, $1 in 1990 × (313.689 / 130.7) ≈ $2.40 in 2024.
What is 'real' vs 'nominal' salary?
Nominal salary is the dollar figure on your paycheck. Real salary expresses that figure in a fixed base year's purchasing power by dividing by cumulative inflation. If your nominal raises barely keep up with inflation, your real salary is flat — your standard of living hasn't improved even though the number on your paycheck is bigger.
What happens if the 'to year' is beyond 2024?
For years beyond the most recent published BLS annual average, we extend the series using a 2.5% per year forward projection — roughly the long-run Fed-target / historical CPI-U average. Actual future inflation will differ; treat projected years as a planning scenario, not a forecast.
Why did the Social Security taxation thresholds never get indexed?
The 50% threshold was set at $25,000 single / $32,000 joint by the Social Security Amendments of 1983; the 85% tier at $34,000 / $44,000 by the 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. Neither statute contains an inflation adjustment. In 1984 only about 10% of beneficiaries paid any tax on benefits — today, with wage growth, closer to half do.
Sources
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Calculate the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax.