Value of a dollar in 2010: what it is worth today
One dollar of 2010, at the CPI-U annual average, carried to September 2026. Change the amount or the year.
In September 2026 dollars
$154.52
$100.00 at 2010 prices (annual average), U.S. city average.
| Prices since | +55 % |
| Average per year | +2.72 % |
| What $100.00 today buys at 2010 prices | $64.72 |
| Index 2010 | 218.056 |
Prepared by Radif Partners · How the figures are built · CPI-U U.S. city average, 2010 annual average
A dollar of 2010 is worth $1.55 in September 2026 on the CPI-U for the U.S. city average. The index averaged 218.056 in 2010 and stands at 336.94, so prices have risen 54.5 % since, or 2.72 % a year. Today's dollar buys what $0.65 bought in 2010. Inflation in 2010 itself was 1.6 % on annual averages, and the decade that followed was mild: 6 of the ten years from 2010 to 2019 stayed under 2 %, with a low of 0.1 % in 2015. From 2010 to 2020 the price level rose 18.7 % in total, the smallest ten-year rise of any decade since 1950. More of the rise since 2010 came after 2020 than before it: the 2021 and 2022 surge alone added 13.1 % in two years. A salary of $50,000 in 2010 needs $77,260 today to keep its buying power.
A decade of low inflation
Of every decade since 1950, the 2010s saw the smallest rise in prices. On annual averages, inflation ran from 0.1 % in 2015 to 3.2 % in 2011, and 6 of the ten years stayed below 2 %. Over the whole decade, prices rose 18.7 %, or 1.73 % a year. For comparison, the ten years from 1970 rose 112 % and those from 2000 rose 26.6 %.
Inflation in a year of the 2010s
Inflation in 2015, U.S. average
+0.1 %
| Annual average change | +0.12 % |
| December to December | +0.73 % |
| $100 of 2015 in September 2026 | $142.16 |
Years with no Social Security COLA
Low inflation had a direct effect on benefits. The Social Security COLA compares the third-quarter average of the CPI-W with the same average of the last year a COLA took effect. In this decade the comparison gave zero for December 2010 and December 2015, so benefits did not rise those years. The Social Security COLA page lists every adjustment since 1975.
Where prices moved most since 2010
Shelter has risen faster than the total since 2010: $100 of shelter spending at 2010 prices costs $174 today, a rise of 74 %, while energy rose 62 % over the same span. In 2010 itself, the regional rates ranged from 1.1 % in the West to 2.0 % in the Northeast. Since then the West has risen most of the four (+61.4 %) and the Northeast least (+50.3 %).
2010 in the metro indexes
In the data this site uses, 20 metro indexes have a 2010 annual average. Their 2010 rates ranged from 0.3 % in Seattle to 2.4 % in St. Louis, around a national 1.6 %. Both size classes and all four regions also have one. Within the year, the national index moved from 216.687 in January to 219.179 in December, so the month you start from makes little difference for 2010.
What a 2010 amount means today
The $77,260 figure for a 2010 salary of $50,000 is the pay that buys the same average basket today. If your pay grew less than that, your real income fell even if the number on the check went up. The salary inflation calculator does the comparison for your own figure and city.
$100 of 2010 in later years
| Year | What $100 of 2010 buys |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $118.69 |
| September 2026 | $154.52 |
Inflation in 2010, area by area
| Area | 2010 annual average change |
|---|---|
| U.S. average | +1.6 % |
| Northeast | +2.0 % |
| Midwest | +2.0 % |
| South | +1.7 % |
| West | +1.1 % |
| Large metros (Size A) | +1.5 % |
| Smaller cities (Size B/C) | +1.8 % |
| Boston | +1.6 % |
| New York | +1.7 % |
| Philadelphia | +2.0 % |
| Chicago | +1.4 % |
| Detroit | +0.8 % |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | +1.8 % |
| St. Louis | +2.4 % |
| Miami | +0.8 % |
| Atlanta | +1.2 % |
| Tampa | +1.9 % |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | +0.5 % |
| Houston | +1.9 % |
| Phoenix | +0.6 % |
| Denver | +1.9 % |
| Los Angeles | +1.2 % |
| San Francisco | +1.4 % |
| Seattle | +0.3 % |
| San Diego | +1.3 % |
| Urban Hawaii | +2.1 % |
| Urban Alaska | +1.8 % |