What is $100 in 1939 worth in 1940?

$100 in 1939 has the purchasing power of about $101 in 1940, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U).

What was the average inflation rate between 1939 and 1940?

Prices rose 0.7% in total between 1939 and 1940, an average of 0.72% per year.

How much is $1 in 1939 worth today?

$1 in 1939 is equivalent to about $1.01 in 1940. Equivalently, a 1940 dollar buys what $0.99 bought in 1939.

U.S. inflation · 1939–1940

Value of $100 in 1939, adjusted to 1940

Amount From year To year

$100 in 1939 has the same buying power as

$101

in 1940

Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change	0.7%
Average inflation rate	0.72% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)	$101
Price difference ($100 base)	$0.72
CPI in 1939	13.9
CPI in 1940	14
Inflation in 1939	-1.42%
Inflation in 1940	0.72%
$100 in 1939 → 1940	$101
$100 in 1940 → 1939	$99.29

What happened to prices between 1939 and 1940

Between 1939 and 1940, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.9 to 14. Cumulatively, prices increased 0.7%, which works out to an average of 0.72% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1939 bought what $0.99 buys in 1940.

Common amounts: 1939 dollars in 1940

Amount in 1939	Value in 1940
$1.00	$1.01
$5.00	$5.04
$10.00	$10.07
$20.00	$20.14
$50.00	$50.36
$100	$101
$500	$504
$1,000	$1,007
$5,000	$5,036
$10,000	$10,072
$100,000	$100,719
$1,000,000	$1,007,194

Inflation by spending category, 1939–1940

The headline number is an average. Individual categories moved very differently over this period. Here is what $100 of 1939 spending costs in 1940, by category:

Category	Avg. yearly inflation	$100 in 1939 →
All items (CPI-U)	0.72%	$101
Food	1.69%	$102
Medical care	0.97%	$101
Apparel	0.93%	$101
Transportation	-0.70%	$99.30

Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1939: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).

Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1939

Year	CPI	Inflation rate	$100 from 1939
1939	13.9	-1.4%	$100
1940	14	0.7%	$101

Cite this page

MLA: “Inflation from 1939 to 1940: $100 is worth $101 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1939-to-1940/

APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1939 to 1940. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1939-to-1940/

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages (series CUUR0000SA0; category indexes listed on the data sources page). See how these numbers are calculated.