Penny Runs the Numbers

Salary vs Inflation Calculator: What Your Old Pay Is Worth Today

What your old salary is worth today, and did your pay keep up?
Start year
Salary then
per year, before tax
Your salary now
Your pay after inflation
pay vs prices

Keeps up with prices (CPI-U)Grew like typical payYour salary now

Using the BLS CPI-U, $100,000 in 1990 equals $258,233 in October 2026 dollars: prices are 2.58 times higher. Earning $250,000 today is therefore a 3.2% pay cut versus $100,000 in 1990. Median full-time weekly pay grew 2.99 times over the same period, beating prices by about 16%. Since 2020 it has not: $60,000 in 2020 needs $78,245 today, so a 20% raise to $72,000 is an 8% pay cut after inflation.

What the calculator shows

Pick a start year, the salary you earned then and the salary you earn now. The first card converts the old salary into today's dollars with the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The second card tells you whether your current pay is ahead of or behind prices. The third compares prices with how typical full-time pay grew since the same year.

The chart shows the path a salary would have needed to follow just to keep up with prices (blue), the path of typical pay (green) and your salary today (red).

Is $100,000 in 1990 really $250,000 today?

Close. The CPI-U averaged 130.7 in 1990 and stood at 337.511 in October 2026, so $100,000 then buys what $258,233 buys now. A salary that never got a raise since 1990 has lost 61% of its purchasing power: $100,000 today buys what $38,725 bought in 1990.

Typical pay did better than that. BLS median usual weekly earnings of full-time workers averaged $412 in 1990 and $1,232 in the third quarter of 2026, an increase of 2.99 times against 2.58 times for prices. A $100,000 salary that grew like typical pay would be about $298,848 today.

Did your raise since 2020 beat inflation?

Prices rose 30% between the 2020 average and October 2026. To keep the buying power of $60,000 from 2020 you need $78,245 now, a 30% raise. A 20% raise to $72,000 leaves you 8% behind. Median full-time weekly pay grew about 25% over the same stretch, so the typical worker is roughly 4% behind prices since 2020.

Questions

How much is $100,000 in 1990 worth today?

$258,233 in October 2026 dollars, using the BLS CPI-U (1990 annual average 130.7, October 2026 index 337.511).

How do I know if my raise beat inflation?

Divide your pay now by your pay then, and divide the CPI-U now by the CPI-U then. If the first ratio is bigger, your raise beat inflation. The calculator does this for you and shows the gap in percent and in dollars.

Did wages keep up with inflation since 1990?

For the typical full-time worker, yes: BLS median weekly earnings rose 2.99 times while prices rose 2.58 times, about 16% more buying power. Since 2020 the median rose about 25% while prices rose 30%.

What does this calculator leave out?

It compares pre-tax pay only and uses the national average CPI-U basket, which may not match what you buy or where you live. The 'then' value is an annual average and 'now' is the latest month or quarter. Median earnings describe a different mix of workers each year, not the same people.

Sources and assumptions

Last updated 2026-11-11.