What is 60,000 in 2013 worth today?

The formula

Inflation adjustment is a ratio of two price index readings. If you can look up the index for both years, that is the whole calculation and it needs no assumptions.

value_now = value_then × (index_now ÷ index_then)

Example with index readings:
  2013 index  = 233.0
  today index = 321.5
  60,000 × (321.5 ÷ 233.0) = 82,790

If you only have an average rate

Without index readings, compound an assumed average annual rate over the number of years. This is what most quick inflation calculators do, and it is why they disagree with each other: the answer is only as good as the rate you feed it.

value_now = value_then × (1 + r) ^ n

60,000 from 2013, n = 13 years
  r = 2.5%  →  60,000 × 1.0250^13 = 82,711
  r = 3.0%  →  60,000 × 1.0300^13 = 88,112
  r = 3.5%  →  60,000 × 1.0350^13 = 93,837

The same amounts at three assumed rates

Why two calculators give you two answers

• Different series. In the US, CPI-U, chained CPI and the PCE price index move at different speeds. In the UK, CPI, CPIH and the older RPI all differ, and RPI typically runs highest.
• Different months. "2013" is twelve readings. A calculator using January will not match one using the annual average or December.
• Different basket. Inflation is measured against a basket of goods that is reweighted over time. Your own basket, especially if it is heavy on rent or tuition, may have moved very differently.
• Different country. The currency symbol does not decide the series. 60,000 dollars, pounds and euros need three different indexes.

None of these is wrong. They answer slightly different questions, which is why any figure worth quoting comes with the series and the base period attached.

Reading the result honestly

An inflation-adjusted figure says what it would cost today to buy the same basket that the original amount bought then. It does not say what a 2013 salary should be now, because wages track productivity and labour markets as well as prices. It also does not say what an investment would be worth, because that depends on returns rather than on the price level. For those, use the compound interest calculator or the salary converter instead.

Related calculators

• Inflation calculator does the arithmetic for any amount, period and rate.
• Compound interest calculator grows a sum at a return rather than a price index.
• Percentage calculator handles the cumulative percentage change on its own.
• Currency converter converts between currencies at current rates.
• CAGR calculator recovers the average annual rate implied by a start and end value.