What salary inflation adjustment means
Inflation adjustment is different from forecasting a raise. The goal is not to guess what an employer will pay. The goal is to estimate what level of gross pay in a later year would buy roughly what an earlier salary bought in the source year, using one official price index consistently.
That makes a salary inflation calculator useful for long-run career comparisons, compensation history, and questions such as what a past salary is worth in current dollars. It is a purchasing-power comparison tool, not a payroll or labor-market forecast.