What is $1 from 2012 worth today?
$1 in 2012 is worth $1.47 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 47% since 2012, an average of 2.74% a year over 14 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 0.6 times, and a dollar today buys 68.1% of what it bought in 2012.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 2012 is worth $29.35, $100 is worth $146.75 and $1,000 is worth $1,468 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 2012
The CPI-U averaged 229.594 in 2012, up 2.1% from 224.939 in 2011. From December 2011 to December 2012, prices rose 1.7%. Ranked by annual inflation, 2012 is number 68 of the 112 years from 1914 to 2025.
In the 2010s, annual inflation averaged 1.8% a year. The highest rate was 3.2% in 2011 and the lowest 0.1% in 2015.
2012 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 2012 money
If something cost $5 in 2012, the same buying power today is $7.34. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $68.14 bought in 2012, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $40,885 salary in 2012.
If your pay in 2012 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $1,468 a month in September 2026 to afford the same basket of goods and services. Remember that this is an average across consumer spending: some prices, such as housing, health care and tuition, have risen faster than the CPI, while others have risen more slowly.
How this 2012 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 2012 annual average (229.594): 336.94 ÷ 229.594 = 1.4675. Multiply any 2012 amount by 1.4675 to convert it to September 2026 dollars. The data is the CPI for All Urban Consumers, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (BLS series CUUR0000SA0), published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Use the calculator above to pick a specific month in 2012 or a different end date. See also $1 in 2011 and $1 in 2013. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.