$100 in 1939 is worth $1,549 in 2008,
because prices increased 1448.9% over that period, an average of
4.05% a year.
$100 in 1939 has
the same buying power as
$1,549
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1448.9%
Average inflation rate
4.05% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,549
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,449
CPI in 1939
13.9
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1939
-1.42%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1939 → 2008
$1,549
$100 in 2008 → 1939
$6.46
What happened to prices between 1939 and 2008
Between 1939 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.9 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1448.9%, which works out to an average of
4.05% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1939 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2008: the 1939 dollar
lost 93.5% of its purchasing power over
these 69 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 2008 at the same ratio, 15.49: $1,000 becomes
$15,489, and $10,000 becomes $154,894.
Amount in 1939
Value in 2008
$1.00
$15.49
$5.00
$77.45
$10.00
$155
$20.00
$310
$50.00
$774
$100
$1,549
$500
$7,745
$1,000
$15,489
$5,000
$77,447
$10,000
$154,894
$100,000
$1,548,942
$1,000,000
$15,489,424
Inflation by spending category, 1939–2008
Between 1939 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 3434.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 450.5%, against 1448.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1939
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1939 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.05%
$1,549
Medical care
5.30%
$3,535
Food
4.29%
$1,814
Transportation
3.86%
$1,367
Apparel
2.50%
$550
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 2008
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 1939–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$1,549
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1939
$100 from 1939 had already become $355 by
1974, on its way to $1,549 in 2008; 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: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1939 had the buying
power of $1,549; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1939 to 2008: $100 is worth $1,549 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1939-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1939 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1939-to-2008/