Rate vs inflation calculator

How the rate vs inflation calculator works

A price index tracks what the same basket of goods and services costs from month to month. Divide this month's index by the index for the month you set your rate, and you have how much prices have risen in between. Multiply your rate by that, and you have the rate that buys what yours bought then.

For example, US consumer prices in August 2026 were 29.9% higher than in January 2020, by the BLS's CPI-U. A rate of $50 an hour set in January 2020 would have to be $64.93 an hour now to buy the same things. Charging $50 still, you are working for what $38.51 an hour paid then.

What this does not tell you

• It measures prices, not your market. Keeping up with inflation only stands still. Your skills, your demand and what others charge for the same work are the other half of a rate review, and the freelance rate calculator works that half out from what you need to earn.
• It uses the national average. Your own costs may have risen faster or slower: rent, software and insurance do not move with the average basket. And it is before tax: a rise that keeps your rate level can still leave less after tax if it moves you into a higher band.
• The figures are not today's. Statistics offices publish a month's index a few weeks after it ends, and the figures in this page were last refreshed on 4 October 2026. The sheet says which month it uses.
• It does not keep anything. Nothing is written to your browser's storage and nothing you type is sent to us.

The figures, and where they come from

• United States: CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), US city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted. The BLS published no index for October 2025, because of the 2025 lapse in appropriations, and the sheet says so if you pick that month.
• United Kingdom: the ONS's CPI index, all items (series D7BT). It is the measure the Bank of England targets, not RPI or CPIH.
• Canada: Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index, all-items, Canada (table 18-10-0004-01).
• Australia: the ABS's quarterly CPI, all groups, weighted average of the eight capital cities. The ABS's full monthly CPI only goes back to 2024, so the quarterly figure is used throughout, and a month counts as its quarter.
• Europe: Eurostat's Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), all items. It is the measure the European Central Bank targets, and it can differ a little from a country's own national CPI.

New Zealand is not here yet: Stats NZ publishes its CPI in a way this page cannot yet refresh automatically.

Related

When you have the figure, the rate increase letter generator writes the email that tells a client, and the button above fills it in for you. The guide to setting a freelance rate covers the rest of a rate review.