$5 in 2021 Is Worth $6 Today
Adjusted for US inflation (CPI) from 2021 to 2024.
$5 in 2021 has the same buying power as about $6 in 2024 — a total increase of 15.8%, or roughly 5.00% a year on average.
The calculation uses the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), the same series the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes monthly and the Federal Reserve watches for inflation targeting. Prices do not rise evenly: housing, medical care and education have typically outpaced the headline index, while electronics and clothing have lagged it.
Reading the result
- A salary that grew slower than 5.00% a year lost purchasing power, even if the number on the contract went up.
- Housing costs are the single largest weight in the index for most households, so local inflation can differ sharply from the national figure.
- For long horizons, compounding matters more than any single year: 3% a year doubles prices in about 24 years.
$5 in 2021 has the same buying power as about $6 in 2024. In other words, prices have risen roughly 15.8% over 3 years — an average of about 5.00% per year.
Last reviewed: November 2026
Data sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages (1913–2024).
Disclaimer: Figures use national annual-average CPI-U data and reflect overall inflation, not local prices or the cost of a specific item. For informational use only.