Purchasing Power Calculator
Enter a year and an amount. See what that money could actually buy then versus now — and how much purchasing power has been quietly eroded.
Purchasing Power Calculator
See how much purchasing power a dollar has lost (or what past dollars are worth today) using CPI data from 1913 to 2024.
You'd need today
$806.7
to have the same purchasing power as $100 in 1970
$100 from 1970 buys
$12.4
worth of goods in 2024 dollars
Price Multiplier
8.07x
Purchasing Power Lost
87.6%
Years
54
Real-World Price Comparison (~1970 vs ~2024)
Gallon of gas
$0.36 → $3.50
~10x
Median home
$23,000 → $420,000
~18x
New car
$3,500 → $48,000
~14x
College tuition (4yr public)
$1,200/yr → $11,000/yr
~9x
Movie ticket
$1.55 → $11.00
~7x
Loaf of bread
$0.25 → $3.50
~14x
Note: CPI says prices rose roughly 7.5x since 1970. Housing rose ~18x. The gap between CPI and real cost-of-living is part of why CPI is considered an understatement of felt inflation.
What CPI doesn't capture
This calculator uses the standard Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), which is how the government officially measures inflation. But CPI uses "owner's equivalent rent" instead of actual home prices, applies quality adjustments that reduce measured inflation, and assumes you substitute cheaper goods when prices rise. Many economists argue CPI understates the real erosion of purchasing power — particularly for housing, healthcare, and education.
Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U Annual Average, 1913–2024.