$100 in 1942 is worth $802 in 1990,
because prices increased 701.8% over that period, an average of
4.43% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$802
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
701.8%
Average inflation rate
4.43% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$802
Price difference ($100 base)
$702
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1942 → 1990
$802
$100 in 1990 → 1942
$12.47
What happened to prices between 1942 and 1990
Between 1942 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 701.8%, which works out to an average of
4.43% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.12 buys in 1990: the 1942 dollar
lost 87.5% of its purchasing power over
these 48 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 1990 at the same ratio, 8.02: $1,000 becomes
$8,018, and $10,000 becomes $80,184.
Amount in 1942
Value in 1990
$1.00
$8.02
$5.00
$40.09
$10.00
$80.18
$20.00
$160
$50.00
$401
$100
$802
$500
$4,009
$1,000
$8,018
$5,000
$40,092
$10,000
$80,184
$100,000
$801,840
$1,000,000
$8,018,405
Inflation by spending category, 1942–1990
Between 1942 and 1990, medical care rose the most, up 1421.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 364.8%, against 701.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.43%
$802
Medical care
5.84%
$1,521
Food
4.58%
$860
Transportation
4.30%
$753
Apparel
3.25%
$465
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 1990
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 1942–1990 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$802
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $199 by
1966, on its way to $802 in 1990; 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: 1990
In 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $802; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 1990: $100 is worth $802 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-1990/