RaiseGauge answers one question well: did your raise actually beat inflation? A pay increase that lands below inflation is a cut in real terms — fewer goods for the same effort — even though the number on your check went up.
We pull the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) directly from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and use it to convert your nominal raise into a real, purchasing-power change. The same data powers our metro and category trackers and the “what is past money worth today” pages.
Figures come from the BLS CPI-U series (not seasonally adjusted, U.S. city average and the relevant metro or category series). We update automatically when BLS publishes each monthly release. CPI is an average across a representative population; your personal inflation can differ depending on what you buy.
Informational only. Not financial advice. Questions? Contact us.
Updated July 2026