The number to beat
What a raise is really worth after the 3.74% price rise, on a $60,000 salary.*
| Raise on $60,000 | Buys what, in last year’s dollars | vs a year ago |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | $58,995 | -$1,005 |
| 3% | $59,573 | -$427 |
| 3.7% | $59,978 | about even |
| 4% | $60,152 | +$152 |
| 5% | $60,730 | +$730 |
Worked example: a 3% raise*
$60,000 × 1.03 = $61,800. Divide by the price rise: $61,800 / 1.0374 = $59,573 in last year’s dollars, about $430 less than $60,000. To break even, the raise had to be about 3.7%, roughly $2,240 on $60,000.
What rose most
Over the same 12 months (BLS Table 2, October 14 release):
Gasoline +34.2%
Electricity +4.4%
Rent of primary residence +2.8%
Food at home (groceries) +1.8%
Gasoline did the most damage. The national average is not your own rate.
The number to beat is your own
The 3.7% is a national average. Your own price rise depends on what you buy, and a raise is not your whole pay change if your benefits changed. Check yours: enter your raise and your spending in the free Raise vs Inflation tool.
Asterisk note
*Hypothetical example, not a real salary. Our arithmetic on BLS index values: September 2026 CPI-U 336.940 vs September 2025 324.800 = 3.74%.
Related
Raise vs Inflation tool: your raise against your own spending.
Wages vs inflation, 2026: the pay picture across the year.
The last price tag before the vote: the September CPI report behind this page.
The August edition of this page: the same check with August’s numbers.
Sources
Retrieved October 15, 2026.
Price data: BLS Consumer Price Index, September 2026 (released October 14, 2026). CPI-U all items, US city average, not seasonally adjusted: September 2026 index 336.940, September 2025 index 324.800 (series CUUR0000SA0, via the BLS public data API). Category rises from Table 2 of the same release.