the CPI calculator from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Here's a link to the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI calculator: http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm You may also want to consider this article and the accompanying graphic: A Rough Ten Years for the Middle Class graphic from US Census Bureau via CNN Money Middle-class income fell 7% in the last decade, adjusted for inflation. So are you better off than your parents? Homework Suggestion: Go home and ask a parent what year it was when he/she was 25 years old. Next, ask what he/she earned during that year. Use the CPI calculator to see how much you would have to earn to have the same buying power as your parent when he/she was 25 years old.