Tools · US consumer prices by month since 1871
US inflation calculator
What a sum of money from any month since January 1871 is worth in any other month, by US consumer prices. Change the amount and the months; the link keeps your numbers.
Month by month
What $100 from the start of each decade is worth in October 2026
January of each decade's first year (and January 1871, where the data begin) in money of October 2026, and back: what $100 of October 2026 was worth then. A year opens in the calculator.
| January of | $100 then, in Oct 2026 | Prices since | A year | $100 of Oct 2026, then |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871 | $2,693.96 | ×26.9 | 2.1% | $3.71 |
| 1880 | $3,361.01 | ×33.6 | 2.4% | $2.98 |
| 1890 | $4,411.35 | ×44.1 | 2.8% | $2.27 |
| 1900 | $4,251.90 | ×42.5 | 3.0% | $2.35 |
| 1910 | $3,393.34 | ×33.9 | 3.1% | $2.95 |
| 1920 | $1,739.77 | ×17.4 | 2.7% | $5.75 |
| 1930 | $1,963.61 | ×19.6 | 3.1% | $5.09 |
| 1940 | $2,415.66 | ×24.2 | 3.7% | $4.14 |
| 1950 | $1,428.84 | ×14.3 | 3.5% | $7.00 |
| 1960 | $1,145.99 | ×11.5 | 3.7% | $8.73 |
| 1970 | $888.30 | ×8.88 | 3.9% | $11.26 |
| 1980 | $431.59 | ×4.32 | 3.2% | $23.17 |
| 1990 | $263.56 | ×2.64 | 2.7% | $37.94 |
| 2000 | $198.92 | ×1.99 | 2.6% | $50.27 |
| 2010 | $154.96 | ×1.55 | 2.6% | $64.53 |
| 2020 | $130.16 | ×1.3 | 4.0% | $76.83 |
Data: Robert J. Shiller (the BLS CPI-U from 1913).
Inflation by decade
How much US consumer prices rose over each decade, on average a year, and in the decade's highest and lowest year.
| Decade | Over the decade | A year | Highest year | Lowest year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s* | −22.1% | −2.8% | +18.6% 1879 | −14.0% 1878 |
| 1880s | −19.6% | −2.2% | +7.0% 1881 | −10.3% 1884 |
| 1890s | +1.2% | +0.1% | +16.9% 1899 | −7.5% 1893 |
| 1900s | +26.5% | +2.4% | +10.5% 1909 | −5.6% 1903 |
| 1910s | +89.2% | +6.6% | +20.4% 1918 | −7.6% 1910 |
| 1920s | −9.0% | −0.9% | +3.5% 1925 | −10.8% 1921 |
| 1930s | −18.6% | −2.0% | +3.0% 1935 | −10.3% 1932 |
| 1940s | +68.6% | +5.4% | +18.1% 1946 | −2.1% 1949 |
| 1950s | +24.6% | +2.2% | +6.0% 1951 | −0.7% 1954 |
| 1960s | +28.2% | +2.5% | +6.2% 1969 | +0.7% 1961 |
| 1970s | +103.4% | +7.4% | +13.3% 1979 | +3.3% 1971 |
| 1980s | +64.4% | +5.1% | +12.5% 1980 | +1.1% 1986 |
| 1990s | +33.5% | +2.9% | +6.1% 1990 | +1.6% 1998 |
| 2000s | +28.3% | +2.5% | +4.1% 2007 | +0.1% 2008 |
| 2010s | +19.0% | +1.8% | +3.0% 2011 | +0.7% 2015 |
| 2020s* | +30.7% | +4.0% | +7.0% 2021 | +1.4% 2020 |
* Not a whole decade: the first one starts in January 1871, the latest runs to October 2026. A decade runs from the December before it to its last December; a year, from December to December. Data: Robert J. Shiller (the BLS CPI-U from 1913).
How it is calculated
- Data: the US consumer price index by month from Robert J. Shiller's data (shillerdata.com): from 1913 the Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI-U (all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted); before 1913 Warren and Pearson's index of wholesale prices.
- One series: Shiller joins the wholesale prices to the CPI-U in January 1913, and the S&P 500 page uses the same series.
- Before 1913 the figures are a rougher guide: there was no consumer price index yet, and wholesale prices swung more than the cost of living.
- How: the amount × the CPI of the second month ÷ the CPI of the first. “A year” spreads the same change evenly over the years between the two months.
- An average: the CPI follows a basket of goods and services of urban households. A house, a year of college or a computer changed in price very differently.
- The latest months are preliminary (Shiller's note: “Sept/Oct CPI estimated”); the BLS publishes each month's CPI in the middle of the next month.