Between 1990 and 2025, US consumer prices rose by 147.0%. That means $1 then had roughly the same buying power as $2.47 now — an average of 2.62% inflation per year over 35 years.
What $1 in 1990 was worth at each following decade, adjusted for consumer price inflation.
Inflation adjustment uses the ratio of the Consumer Price Index between the two years — the same method the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics documents for comparing dollar amounts over time.
The index used is CPI-U (all urban consumers, US city average, all items), base period 1982-1984 = 100. Inflation in 1990 itself ran at 5.4%. The 2025 figure is the latest annual average available and may be revised by BLS.
Note: other inflation calculators may show slightly different results because some use a specific month rather than the annual average, or a different end year. This page uses annual averages throughout, and states both index values above so the arithmetic can be checked.
$1 in 1990 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2.47 in 2025. That is an increase of $1.47 over 35 years, or a total price rise of 147.0%.
Prices rose at an average of 2.62% per year between 1990 and 2025. Compounded over 35 years, that turns $1 into $2.47.
The amount is multiplied by the ratio of the Consumer Price Index in 2025 to the index in 1990: 322.8 divided by 130.7 equals 2.4698. Multiplying $1 by 2.4698 gives $2.47. The index is the CPI-U published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, base period 1982-1984 = 100.
Running the comparison in reverse, $1.00 in 2025 has roughly the same buying power as $0.40 in 1990.
Use the full inflation tool to compare any amount between any two years, or project what today's money will be worth in the future.
