RightFigures

Savings & Investing

Inflation calculator

Apply an inflation rate you enter and see a future nominal cost and the purchasing power of the original amount.

Free to useNo sign-upCalculated in your browser

Amount, inflation and years

US dollars

$0.00–$100,000,000.00.

Percent

0–100%. An assumption, not a price index. Up to 6 decimal places.

1–50 whole years.

Your amounts stay in this browser.

Enter the current amount, an inflation rate and the years, then calculate.

Two readings of the same amount

Enter an amount, an annual inflation rate, and a number of years. The page answers two different questions.

The future nominal cost is what something priced at that amount today would cost after the years you enter, if prices rose once a year at the rate you typed.

Purchasing power is what that same original amount would be worth in today’s dollars after those years. It is not the purchasing power of the future cost. The future cost, read back into today’s dollars, is the original amount.

Both use annual compounding and round half up to the cent only at the end. This is the same annual growth as the compound interest calculator. That page also offers monthly, quarterly, and daily compounding. This page does not.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index measures the average change over time in prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket. This calculator does not download that index, average it, or extend it. The rate is an assumption you enter.

$100 at 10% for two years

$100.00 at an assumed 10% for 2 years has a future nominal cost of $121.00. The same $100.00 held until then has purchasing power equivalent to $82.64 in today’s dollars.

The purchasing power of the future $121.00, measured in today’s dollars, is $100.00. That is a different question, and this page does not display it as the purchasing-power result.

$10,000.00 at 5% for 10 years has a future cost of $16,288.95 and purchasing power of $6,139.13. The monthly compound-interest result for that amount and rate is $16,470.09. This page is the annual figure.

$0.01 at 10% for 50 years has a future cost of $1.17. Its purchasing power rounds to $0.00 because it is below half a cent.

What this leaves out

There is no tax calculation and no forecast. At 0%, both results stay equal to the amount you entered. A future cost above $100,000,000,000.00 is rejected. A one-year term is labeled “1 year”.

Frequently asked questions

Is $82.64 the value of the $121 future cost? No. $82.64 is the purchasing power of the original $100.00. The $121.00 is the future cost of something priced $100.00 today.

Should I type a published inflation rate? You can type any annual rate from 0% to 100%. A published index is one place people look for an assumption. This page does not fill that rate in for you, and it does not predict next year’s prices.

Sources & review

Last reviewed: . The formula is reproduced above so you can check the math independently.

Educational estimate only. The rate is an assumption you enter, not a price forecast.