The headline inflation number is an average across everyone’s spending. Yours isn’t average. Housing, groceries, healthcare and transportation each inflate at their own rate — and how much of your budget goes to each decides your personal inflation rate.
Enter your state and your budget by spending category. fvequals applies the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI rate for each category in your region and shows how your expenses grow year by year.
The budget starts out filled in with the average U.S. household’s 2024 spending from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. Replace it with your own numbers.
📍 Your Location & Budget
📊 Inflation Outlook
Choose how much inflation to plan for. Each option uses a different window of BLS history.
🗺 Where Your Money Goes
Each tile is proportional to its share of total monthly spending. Larger tile = larger expense.
📈 How Your Expenses Grow
Your monthly budget by category, each compounding at its own CPI-U rate for your region.
| Category | Today2026 | +5 yr2031 | +10 yr2036 | +15 yr2041 | +20 yr2046 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🛒 Food & Beverages 2.78% | $901 | $1,033 | $1,185 | $1,359 | $1,559 |
| 🏠 Housing 3.92% | $2,189 | $2,653 | $3,215 | $3,897 | $4,723 |
| 👕 Apparel 0.94% | $167 | $175 | $183 | $192 | $201 |
| 🚗 Transportation 3.09% | $1,110 | $1,292 | $1,505 | $1,752 | $2,040 |
| 🏥 Medical Care 2.87% | $516 | $595 | $685 | $789 | $909 |
| 🎬 Recreation 1.18% | $311 | $330 | $350 | $371 | $393 |
| 📚 Education & Comm. 2.18% | $131 | $146 | $162 | $181 | $201 |
| 📦 Other Goods & Services 2.54% | $212 | $241 | $273 | $309 | $351 |
| Total /mo | $5,537 | $6,464 | $7,558 | $8,850 | $10,378 |
⚖️ Your Inflation vs. a Flat 3% Assumption
Most calculators grow every expense at one flat rate, usually 3%. This compares that shortcut with your budget grown at your own category rates.
Category rates are derived from BLS CPI-U data (2009–2024) for the Census division that contains your state; they describe how prices have moved, not a forecast. “Your personal inflation rate” weights each category’s rate by your share of spending today; because faster-rising categories grow into a bigger share over time, your effective rate drifts over the projection. The 3% comparison is a common calculator default, not a BLS figure. Default budget: BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, average annual expenditures of all consumer units, 2024 (excludes cash contributions and personal insurance & pensions; telephone and internet are counted under Housing). Nothing you enter here is saved.