The Democrats' best card
Kennedy 1.1%
From 1.7% to 1.3%, January 1961 to November 1963.
The chart they hide: Carter 9.9%
AI illustrationInflation
Inflation: the number that ends presidencies
Voters forgive a lot. They do not forgive the checkout line. Here is every price surge since 1948 and who was in the chair.
- CPI, past 12 months · September 2026
- 3.7%
- vs. a year ago
- +0.7 pts
- Record high · March 1980
- 14.8%
- Record low · July 1949
- -2.9%
The whole story, month by month
Democrats vs. Republicans
Democrats3.4%average in office, over 37 years and 7 presidencies
Republicans3.6%average in office, over 42 years and 8 presidencies
Both sides have a chart to wave
The Republicans' best card
Eisenhower 1.4%
From 0.4% to 1.7%, January 1953 to January 1961.
The chart they hide: Ford 8.0%
Every president, ranked
Average while in office. Best to worst.
- Kennedy1.1%
- Eisenhower1.4%
- Obama1.4%
- Trump I1.9%
- Johnson2.6%
- Clinton2.6%
- G.W. Bush2.8%
- Trump II (so far)3.0%
- Truman3.6%
- G.H.W. Bush4.4%
- Reagan4.6%
- Biden5.0%
- Nixon5.7%
- Ford8.0%
- Carter9.9%
Why this number starts fights
Inflation hits every household every week, so it turns into a verdict on whoever holds power. Economists still argue about how much of the 2021 and 2022 surge came from stimulus, how much from supply chains and how much from energy. Each party quotes the share that suits it.
How to read it without getting played
No president controls this number alone. Congress, the Federal Reserve, global markets, wars, pandemics and the economy they inherited all move it. A term's score shows what happened on their watch, not what they caused. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling a side.
Method: average of all readings during each term. The party figure weights each term by its length.
More numbers people fight about
Show the yearly table
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3.7% |
| 2025 | 2.7% |
| 2024 | 2.9% |
| 2023 | 3.4% |
| 2022 | 6.5% |
| 2021 | 7.0% |
| 2020 | 1.4% |
| 2019 | 2.3% |
| 2018 | 1.9% |
| 2017 | 2.1% |
| 2016 | 2.1% |
| 2015 | 0.7% |
| 2014 | 0.8% |
| 2013 | 1.5% |
| 2012 | 1.7% |
| 2011 | 3.0% |
| 2010 | 1.5% |
| 2009 | 2.7% |
| 2008 | 0.1% |
| 2007 | 4.1% |
| 2006 | 2.5% |
| 2005 | 3.4% |
| 2004 | 3.3% |
| 2003 | 1.9% |
| 2002 | 2.4% |
| 2001 | 1.6% |
| 2000 | 3.4% |
| 1999 | 2.7% |
| 1998 | 1.6% |
| 1997 | 1.7% |
| 1996 | 3.3% |
| 1995 | 2.5% |
| 1994 | 2.7% |
| 1993 | 2.7% |
| 1992 | 2.9% |
| 1991 | 3.1% |
| 1990 | 6.1% |
| 1989 | 4.6% |
| 1988 | 4.4% |
| 1987 | 4.4% |
| 1986 | 1.1% |
| 1985 | 3.8% |
| 1984 | 3.9% |
| 1983 | 3.8% |
| 1982 | 3.8% |
| 1981 | 8.9% |
| 1980 | 12.5% |
| 1979 | 13.3% |
| 1978 | 9.0% |
| 1977 | 6.7% |
| 1976 | 4.9% |
| 1975 | 6.9% |
| 1974 | 12.3% |
| 1973 | 8.7% |
| 1972 | 3.4% |
| 1971 | 3.3% |
| 1970 | 5.6% |
| 1969 | 6.2% |
| 1968 | 4.7% |
| 1967 | 3.0% |
| 1966 | 3.5% |
| 1965 | 1.9% |
| 1964 | 1.0% |
| 1963 | 1.6% |
| 1962 | 1.3% |
| 1961 | 0.7% |
| 1960 | 1.4% |
| 1959 | 1.7% |
| 1958 | 1.8% |
| 1957 | 2.9% |
| 1956 | 3.0% |
| 1955 | 0.4% |
| 1954 | -0.7% |
| 1953 | 0.7% |
| 1952 | 0.8% |
| 1951 | 6.0% |
| 1950 | 5.9% |
| 1949 | -2.1% |
| 1948 | 3.0% |