Inflation rate history · 2024
Inflation Rate in 2024
In 2024, US consumer prices rose 2.95% — the 34th-highest of the 66 years on record. Here's where that sits in 66 years of inflation, the story behind it, what 2024's money is worth today, and how it compares with the 2.63% of 2025.
- 2024 inflation rate 2.95% annual CPI
- vs prior year -1.17 pts from 4.12% in 2023
- vs today 2.63% in 2025
- 1960–2025 average 3.74% long-run norm
What happened to inflation in 2024
In 2024, inflation ran at 2.95%, down from 4.12% in 2023. That made it the 34th-highest of the 66 years on record, and below the long-run average of 3.74%. For comparison, inflation sits at about 2.63% today.
What 2024's money is worth today
A rate is abstract until it's a price tag. Using the Consumer Price Index, here's what a given sum of 2024 dollars would have to grow to in order to buy the same goods today — the cumulative effect of every year of inflation in between:
Cumulative inflation since 2024 comes to about 3% — prices have risen roughly 1.0× over that span. Put another way, $100 today had the buying power of about $97 in 2024. See the full value of a dollar in 2024. To run your own figure across any two years, use the inflation calculator.
How 2024 compared
Across the full 1960–2025 record, inflation has averaged about 3.74%, so 2024 ran below that long-run norm. Within the 2020s, inflation averaged roughly 3.94%, and 2024 sat below its own decade. Five years earlier, in 2019, the rate was 1.81%. The following year, 2025, inflation eased to 2.63%.
Inflation shapes borrowing costs: when prices run hot, lenders demand higher rates to compensate. See what mortgage rates did in 2024 for the other side of the same story.
Inflation is only half of the "misery index" — the other half is joblessness. See how unemployment in 2024 compared, and what the two together meant for households.
This is one year out of the whole story. For the complete history — every year since 1960, the all-time high and the deflation low, the decade-by-decade view, and what drives inflation over time — see historical inflation rates, 1960–today.
Inflation in 2024 — FAQ
What was the inflation rate in 2024?
Consumer price inflation averaged 2024: 2.95%, based on the annual change in the Consumer Price Index. That was down 1.17 points from 4.12% the year before.
Was inflation high or low in 2024?
Measured against the full 1960–2025 record, 2024's 2.95% was the 34th-highest of the 66 years on record, and below the long-run average of 3.74%.
What is $100 from 2024 worth today?
Because of cumulative inflation, $100 in 2024 has the same buying power as about $103 today — prices have risen roughly 3% (about 1.0×) since then. Put another way, $100 today had the buying power of about $97 in 2024.
How does 2024 inflation compare with today?
In 2024, prices rose 2.95%, versus 2.63% in 2025 — a difference of 0.32 points. The long-run (1960–2025) average is 3.74%.
Data: World Bank, World Development Indicators, via APIVerve. Our tables, charts and text are licensed CC BY-NC 4.0: share and adapt them for non-commercial use as long as you credit us. For commercial use or bulk data, use the APIVerve API. See the data terms. Cite as: Digest Your Finances, “US Inflation Rate by Year”, https://digestyourfinances.com/studies/historical-inflation-rate/2024/ — based on World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY-NC 4.0.
