Find out what an old salary is worth in today's dollars after inflation, and, if you enter a new salary, see whether your raise actually increased your purchasing power or just kept pace with rising prices.
Google AdSense Banner
This area will contain advertisements after approval.
Google AdSense Banner
This area will contain advertisements after approval.
To find out what a past salary is worth today, this calculator inflates it forward: Inflation-Adjusted Salary = Old Salary × (1 + Inflation Rate ÷ 100)^Years. This tells you the salary you'd need today to have the same purchasing power the old salary had back then.
If you also enter a new (current) salary, this calculator splits your raise into two figures. The nominal change is the plain percentage difference between your old and new salary, the number that shows up on paper. The real change compares your new salary against the inflation-adjusted old salary instead, telling you whether your raise actually increased what you can afford to buy, or merely kept up with (or fell behind) rising prices.
For example, a 20% nominal raise sounds solid, but if inflation over the same period was also close to 20%, your real, purchasing-power-adjusted raise could be close to zero.
Because inflation raises the cost of everything you buy over the same period. Your nominal raise is the plain percentage increase in your paycheck, while your real raise accounts for the fact that money from your old salary now buys less than it used to, giving a more accurate picture of whether you're actually better off.
A common approach is to use the average annual inflation rate (such as CPI) for your country over the relevant period, available from your national statistics agency. For a rough estimate, historical long-run averages are often in the 2% to 4% range for many developed economies, though this varies significantly by country and time period.
No, it's optional. Leave it blank or at 0 to simply see what your old salary is worth in today's dollars, without comparing it to a specific new salary.
Google AdSense Banner
This area will contain advertisements after approval.