Savings & Investing · Glossary
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
Also called: CPI, CPI-U
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' measure of how prices paid by urban consumers change over time. It's the standard gauge of US inflation.
Each month BLS prices a fixed basket of goods and services, from rent and groceries to medical care, and publishes it as an index. CPI-U, the version for all urban consumers, is the one most people mean by "inflation."
To convert a dollar amount between two years, multiply by the ratio of their CPI values. The site's inflation data runs from 1913 to 2025, using BLS annual averages.
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Disclaimer: Definitions are general education, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Figures are for the 2026 tax year unless noted.