Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Culture

The U.S. government has a real inflation calculator anyone can use

If you want to see how bad things are, take a look at the U.S. inflation calculator

BethAnn Mayer
By

Inflation, inflation, inflation.

It’s a word that continues to appear in headlines, on social media, and in every conversation you have after looking at your latest grocery bill. Is the constant coverage just “doom porn” and clickbait, or is it real?

a ton of $20 bills

The U.S. government has a real inflation calculator for you to decide for yourself.

Recommended Videos

The tool comes courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The inflation calculator allows you to determine how much buying power a certain amount of money would have in one specific month of a year compared to another. It may sound confusing to explain. However, it’s intuitive, and a cinch to use, though looking at the results may bring about a significant cringe.

For example, perhaps you live in New York and filled your tank with 10 gallons of gas before heading somewhere for the holidays in December of 2022. The average price of gas a month ago in New York was $3.49 per gallon. If that were the price at your usual gas station, you’d have paid $34.90. How much buying power would that have had in December of 2000? A few inputs, and you’ll see — that $34.49 would have been worth $58.83 two decades ago — more than two-thirds more (68.57%).

Of course, 20 years is a long time. What would $34.90 have been worth in December 2019, before COVID-19 and supply chain issues changed the world and global economy? Again, re-input the numbers, and you’ll see a slighter difference. The $34.90 you spent on gas would have stretched to $39.83 in 2019. It’s slightly less than a $5 margin, but it adds up when you consider all the other expenses you have.

The inflation calculator currently shows figures from January 2000 to December 2022, and it doesn’t allow for future projections. That’s probably a good thing.

It’s been a challenging few years living through a global pandemic that’s domino effects on the global economy included layoffs, furloughs, shortages, and supply chain issues. It would be nice to feel like we’ve burst through the tunnel and reached the light, but thousands of tech sector layoffs from Twitter to Microsoft, freefalling cryptocurrency, and inflation are all among the new headlines that may give you a headache as you scroll through social media or watch the news. The R-word — recession — is also being thrown around a lot. On the bright side, the caviar market is hot.

Jokes aside, know that you’re not alone in your concerns about the economy, finances, and job security right now. A recent survey showed that more than 70% of workers were getting more and more concerned about their financial security, and fewer than half of the respondents reported feeling financially stable.

Using an inflation calculator to see just how bad things are getting may not be the best idea if you have worries. However, it’s there for you if you’re an economic wonk or need to prove a point to a friend who hasn’t been following the news.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
BethAnn Mayer
BethAnn Mayer
Contributor
Beth Ann's work has appeared on healthline.com and parents.com. In her spare time, you can find her running (either marathons…
Beyond the booze: A historian explains the real history of St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick's Day is about more than green booze, and we have the historian to prove it

For many, March 17th is an open call to drink all of the green beer. For some, it's a day to gorge on corned beef and cabbage. For others, it's a day to don green apparel and go around pinching those who aren't wearing the color. But not one of these activities has much to do with the actual, real traditional celebration of St. Patrick's Day, the feast day of Ireland's patron saint.

Of course, that disconnect is to be expected when said traditions stretch back around 1,700 years and are inspired by a man most of us know more misconceptions than accuracies. To help understand the real history of St. Patrick's Day, and share a bit about the historical figure for which the day is named, we spoke to Dr. Sean Brennan, a professor of history at the University of Scranton.

Read more
This site lets you find the exact gun used in any movie, ever
Plenty of movies feature guns, and this website will let you know exactly which gun is in every scene
Robert Redford holding a gun in Three Days of the Condor.

There are few things that modern movies love more than guns. They're everywhere, and that's largely true whether you're watching an action movie or an Oscar-baity drama. A gun ramps up the tension of basically any genre, so it's no wonder that they've become a fixture of our big-screen entertainment.

The proliferation of guns in big movies has naturally led some to wonder what specific guns are used in which movies. Sometimes, in movies like John Wick, a lot of emphasis is placed on precisely which weapons are being used by the movie's many assassins. In other movies, though, you don't get as much attention to detail about exactly which weapons the main characters are using to shoot one another.

Read more
The best Valentine’s Day flowers you can buy (Don’t wait for the last minute)
Get these flowers for your loved ones this Valentine's Day
Man giving woman a bouquet of roses.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and if you’d like to buy something nice for someone special in your life, you can’t go wrong with Valentine’s Day flowers. The good news is that even if you don’t have time to make it to your local florist shop, or you want to send flowers to a loved one who's far away, you can buy anything from long-stemmed red roses to elegant and romantic floral arrangements for Valentine’s Day online.
There are several great sites to buy Valentine’s Day flowers online, but the choices of bouquets can be overwhelming. If you're not sure where to start, then you're in the right place. We've found some of the best flower bouquets and arrangements that you can get delivered, just in time for Valentine's Day! Surprise your sweetheart, friend, family member, or just treat yourself with one of these lovely options.

Best Valentine's Day Tulips: 1-800-Flowers Sweetest Love Tulips

Read more