$100 in 1942 is worth $697 in 1987,
because prices increased 596.9% over that period, an average of
4.41% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$697
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
596.9%
Average inflation rate
4.41% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$697
Price difference ($100 base)
$597
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1942 → 1987
$697
$100 in 1987 → 1942
$14.35
What happened to prices between 1942 and 1987
Between 1942 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 596.9%, which works out to an average of
4.41% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.14 buys in 1987: the 1942 dollar
lost 85.7% of its purchasing power over
these 45 years.
Consumer prices rose 10.9% in 1942, up from 1941’s already
rapid 5.0% and the fastest increase since 1920, as the economy’s crash
conversion to war production collided with shrinking supplies of civilian
goods. The government tried to contain it: the General Maximum Price
Regulation, effective May 18 and known as “General Max,” froze most retail
prices at their highest March level, the broadest price control Washington
had ever attempted. Rationing followed close behind. Sugar rationing began
that May and gasoline rationing went nationwide in December, the leading
edge of a system that would eventually cover meat, coffee, shoes, tires, and
dozens of other goods before the war ended. The year’s other defining
wartime measure had nothing to do with prices. Executive Order 9066, signed
February 19, authorized the military to remove more than 110,000 Japanese
Americans, most of them U.S. citizens, from the West Coast and hold them in
inland internment camps for the war’s duration, one of the era’s starkest
violations of civil liberties. Even with price controls in place, consumer
prices climbed more than 10% for the first time since 1920, leaving the CPI
64.6% above its 1913 level. First-class postage held at 3
cents, and the minimum wage stayed at 30 cents an hour.
Every 1942 amount converts to 1987 at the same ratio, 6.97: $1,000 becomes
$6,969, and $10,000 becomes $69,693.
Amount in 1942
Value in 1987
$1.00
$6.97
$5.00
$34.85
$10.00
$69.69
$20.00
$139
$50.00
$348
$100
$697
$500
$3,485
$1,000
$6,969
$5,000
$34,847
$10,000
$69,693
$100,000
$696,933
$1,000,000
$6,969,325
Inflation by spending category, 1942–1987
Between 1942 and 1987, medical care rose the most, up 1115.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 314.2%, against 596.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.41%
$697
Medical care
5.71%
$1,216
Food
4.54%
$737
Transportation
4.28%
$659
Apparel
3.21%
$414
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1942: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1942 to 1987
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1950s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1942–1987 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1942, at end
1942–1950
5.01%
47.9%
$148
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$182
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$238
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$506
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$697
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $190 by
1964, on its way to $697 in 1987; 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 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1987
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $697; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 1987: $100 is worth $697 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-1987/