Dollar Value Box

Did your raise keep up with inflation?

Compare your pay then and now in today's dollars.

To keep up with inflation you need

$74,173.52

At $66,000 you are $8,173.52 short. Your real pay fell 11.0%.

Questions

Did my raise keep up with inflation?
Enter what you earned in an earlier year and what you earn now. If your pay grew less than prices, your real income fell. For example, $60,000 in 2021 needs to be $74,173.52 in August 2026 just to stay even.
What is a cost of living raise?
A raise that matches inflation, so your pay buys the same as before. Anything above it is a real raise.
Which inflation measure does this use?
CPI-U from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: the annual average for your starting year, and the latest month for today.