$100 in 1939 is worth $1,676 in 2013,
because prices increased 1575.9% over that period, an average of
3.88% a year.
$100 in 1939 has
the same buying power as
$1,676
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1575.9%
Average inflation rate
3.88% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,676
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,576
CPI in 1939
13.9
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1939
-1.42%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1939 → 2013
$1,676
$100 in 2013 → 1939
$5.97
What happened to prices between 1939 and 2013
Between 1939 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.9 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1575.9%, which works out to an average of
3.88% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1939 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2013: the 1939 dollar
lost 94.0% of its purchasing power over
these 74 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 2013 at the same ratio, 16.76: $1,000 becomes
$16,759, and $10,000 becomes $167,595.
Amount in 1939
Value in 2013
$1.00
$16.76
$5.00
$83.80
$10.00
$168
$20.00
$335
$50.00
$838
$100
$1,676
$500
$8,380
$1,000
$16,759
$5,000
$83,797
$10,000
$167,595
$100,000
$1,675,950
$1,000,000
$16,759,496
Inflation by spending category, 1939–2013
Between 1939 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 4027.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 489.9%, against 1575.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1939
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1939 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.88%
$1,676
Medical care
5.16%
$4,128
Food
4.14%
$2,009
Transportation
3.75%
$1,520
Apparel
2.43%
$590
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 2013
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 1939–2013 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,569
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$1,676
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1939
$100 from 1939 had already become $355 by
1974, on its way to $1,676 in 2013; 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: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1939 had the buying
power of $1,676; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1939 to 2013: $100 is worth $1,676 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1939-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1939 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1939-to-2013/