US CPI History (1913–2025)

The complete CPI-U annual average series, grouped by decade with year-over-year inflation and per-decade cumulative change.

Year	CPI-U (1982–84 = 100)	YoY inflation

Source & scope: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items, annual average. Base period 1982–84 = 100. Values are illustrative reference data; 2025 reflects the latest available annual average and may be revised.

How to read this table

Each row shows the annual-average CPI-U level for a year and its year-over-year inflation rate. Decade header rows show the total cumulative inflation across that decade.

The index measures the average price of a fixed basket of goods and services relative to the 1982–84 average (set to 100). An index of 200 means prices have doubled since the base period; an index of 50 means they have halved.

The year-over-year column highlights inflation's episodic nature: sharp run-ups around World War I, the post-war 1940s, and the 1970s, alongside the near-deflation of the Great Depression and the historically low 2010s. For a deeper look at why these swings matter, open the inflation calculator or convert these index values into dollars with the purchasing power converter.