See what a salary from any year since 1950 is worth today, and what it takes to match it in another U.S. city. Enter an amount, the year you earned it and where.
| Earned in | $50,000 then is worth | $100,000 then is worth |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | $695,643 | $1,391,286 |
| 1960 | $566,385 | $1,132,770 |
| 1970 | $432,088 | $864,175 |
| 1980 | $203,459 | $406,917 |
| 1990 | $128,271 | $256,542 |
| 2000 | $97,358 | $194,715 |
| 2010 | $76,868 | $153,737 |
| 2020 | $64,841 | $129,681 |
In September 2026 dollars, using the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The value of a dollar page has every year.
| City | Salary needed | vs. U.S. average |
|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | $99,318 | +17% |
| Los Angeles, CA | $101,985 | +20% |
| Chicago, IL | $88,051 | +3.6% |
| Houston, TX | $83,153 | −2.2% |
| Phoenix, AZ | $88,706 | +4.4% |
| Philadelphia, PA | $86,216 | +1.4% |
| San Antonio, TX | $80,168 | −5.7% |
| San Diego, CA | $107,752 | +27% |
| Dallas, TX | $86,872 | +2.2% |
| San Jose, CA | $114,685 | +35% |
| Austin, TX | $88,545 | +4.2% |
| Jacksonville, FL | $85,858 | +1% |
The pay needed in each city to buy what $85,000 buys at U.S.-average prices, as of September 2026.
A salary is converted between years with the Consumer Price Index, and between places with a cost-of-living index built from the same local data as the rest of the site: housing counts for 35% (local rent), gas 6%, car insurance 5%, and all other goods and services 54% (the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s regional price parities). For earlier years, housing gaps between places are narrowed, as on the charts. Taxes aren’t included. More on the method.