$100 in 1939 is worth $1,239 in 2000,
because prices increased 1138.8% over that period, an average of
4.21% a year.
$100 in 1939 has
the same buying power as
$1,239
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1138.8%
Average inflation rate
4.21% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,239
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,139
CPI in 1939
13.9
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1939
-1.42%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1939 → 2000
$1,239
$100 in 2000 → 1939
$8.07
What happened to prices between 1939 and 2000
Between 1939 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.9 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1138.8%, which works out to an average of
4.21% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1939 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2000: the 1939 dollar
lost 91.9% of its purchasing power over
these 61 years.
Consumer prices fell 1.4% in 1939, closing out a decade in which the CPI
fell in six years and rose in four, leaving prices 18.7% below their
1929 level even after the mid-decade recovery. Measured
against the start of the CPI’s modern record, prices still stood 40.4%
above their 1913 level, a reminder that even a decade defined
by deflation left the cost of living well above where it had been a
generation earlier. The decade’s final months reset the economic picture
entirely. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, and Britain and France
declared war two days later; the United States stayed formally neutral
under the Neutrality Acts, but Allied orders for war materiel began flowing
to American factories almost immediately, a demand shock that would do more
to end the Depression over the next few years than any peacetime relief
program had managed. Domestic policy kept building on the New Deal’s
framework, too: the federal minimum wage rose to 30 cents an hour that
October, the second step in the schedule set by the 1938 Fair Labor
Standards Act. Amid it all, the New York World’s Fair opened April 30 in
Queens, themed “The World of Tomorrow” and drawing tens of millions of
visitors with exhibits on television and other technologies promising a
more prosperous decade than the one just ending. First-class postage held
at 3 cents.
Every 1939 amount converts to 2000 at the same ratio, 12.39: $1,000 becomes
$12,388, and $10,000 becomes $123,885.
Amount in 1939
Value in 2000
$1.00
$12.39
$5.00
$61.94
$10.00
$124
$20.00
$248
$50.00
$619
$100
$1,239
$500
$6,194
$1,000
$12,388
$5,000
$61,942
$10,000
$123,885
$100,000
$1,238,849
$1,000,000
$12,388,489
Inflation by spending category, 1939–2000
Between 1939 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 2432.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 500.0%, against 1138.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1939
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1939 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.21%
$1,239
Medical care
5.44%
$2,532
Food
4.45%
$1,422
Transportation
3.97%
$1,072
Apparel
2.98%
$600
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–).
Decade by decade: 1939 to 2000
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1930s (0.72% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1939–2000 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1939, at end
1939–1940
0.72%
0.7%
$101
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$173
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$213
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$279
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$593
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$940
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,239
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1939
$100 from 1939 had already become $264 by
1969, on its way to $1,239 in 2000; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 14.4% in 1947, and prices fell 1.2% in 1949, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2000
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1939 had the buying
power of $1,239; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1939 to 2000: $100 is worth $1,239 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1939-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1939 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1939-to-2000/