Want to use U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate inflation rates? Check out this straightforward primer at http://www.science.gmu.edu/csi779/drope/csi804/theory.html The BLS homepage on the consumer price index is at http://stats.bls.gov/cpihome.htm Oregon State's Prof. Robert Sahr offers a variety of ways to look at inflation - from blockbuster movies to Congressional pay. There is even a handy Excel table you can download.
http://www.orst.edu/Dept/pol_sci/sahr/sahr.html You can point and click your way to compare housing prices at http://fly.HiWAAY.net/~rhuff/Postma/Cald Or, if you're moving, point and click to compare what your salary buys elsewhere in the U.S. at http://www.homefair.com/homefair/cmr/salcalc.html