When this is useful
Use this when last year's target no longer covers the same lifestyle, sales goal, or personal income floor. A goal fixed in dollars can look unchanged while what it actually buys falls.
Inflation calculator
Inflation-adjusted income goal calculator
Enter an income target, an inflation rate, and how many years out to see the goal needed to keep the same buying power.
Example: At 3% inflation, a $100,000 goal set today needs about $103,000 in a year to buy the same.
Inflation-adjusted goal
—
A snapshot, not the year
Use this as the target you track through the year in Goal Cue.
Get Goal Cue — keep this on paceOr preview instantly on this iPhone →Use the result
A calculator gives the number. Goal Cue keeps it alive.
Set this as your Goal Cue target and the app will keep showing where your earnings should be by now.
Download Goal CueHow the math works
The calculator compounds the starting goal by the inflation rate for the selected number of years. Goal Cue uses the same core idea in the app: an annual income goal should rise when prices rise.
Why Goal Cue is the follow-through
A one-time calculator gives the target. Goal Cue turns that target into a running pace: expected by now, earned so far, and what to earn next.
Source note
BLS CPI-U (CUUR0000SA0) for May 2026: 4.2% year over year. Published June 10, 2026. Use this as a starting assumption for U.S. purchasing-power planning, then adjust it for your own decision.
BLS CPI-U (CUUR0000SA0)Questions
Is this the same as a CPI inflation calculator?
It uses the same purchasing-power idea, but it is framed around an income target. For official historical CPI values, use the statistical source for your country or region.
Should I use forecast inflation or last year's inflation?
Use the rate that matches the decision. For a forward-looking income goal, a forecast or planning assumption is useful. For historical buying power, use official historical CPI data.
More tools
Keep exploring income and inflation.
Raise calculator
Salary inflation calculator
Check whether a raise beats inflation, how much salary is needed to keep buying power, and what that means for your yearly income goal.
Freelance pace
Freelance income goal calculator
Calculate where freelance, creator, contractor, or 1099 income should be by now and what weekly pace is needed to hit the annual goal.
Cost of living
Cost of living income calculator
See the income you'd need in a more or less expensive place to keep your current lifestyle — and whether a job offer there measures up.