$100 in 1942 is worth $861 in 1992,
because prices increased 760.7% over that period, an average of
4.40% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$861
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
760.7%
Average inflation rate
4.40% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$861
Price difference ($100 base)
$761
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1942 → 1992
$861
$100 in 1992 → 1942
$11.62
What happened to prices between 1942 and 1992
Between 1942 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 760.7%, which works out to an average of
4.40% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.12 buys in 1992: the 1942 dollar
lost 88.4% of its purchasing power over
these 50 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 1992 at the same ratio, 8.61: $1,000 becomes
$8,607, and $10,000 becomes $86,074.
Amount in 1942
Value in 1992
$1.00
$8.61
$5.00
$43.04
$10.00
$86.07
$20.00
$172
$50.00
$430
$100
$861
$500
$4,304
$1,000
$8,607
$5,000
$43,037
$10,000
$86,074
$100,000
$860,736
$1,000,000
$8,607,362
Inflation by spending category, 1942–1992
Between 1942 and 1992, medical care rose the most, up 1676.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 394.0%, against 760.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.40%
$861
Medical care
5.92%
$1,777
Food
4.48%
$895
Transportation
4.22%
$791
Apparel
3.25%
$494
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 1992
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 1942–1992 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
1990–1992
3.61%
7.3%
$861
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $199 by
1966, on its way to $861 in 1992; 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: 1992
In 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $861; the year's average CPI of 140.3 is the level
behind every 1992 figure on this page.
1992 was the year the recovery finally showed up in the numbers, if not yet in hiring. The
median household earned about $30,600, gas averaged $1.13 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly
$121,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, its calmest reading since the mid-1980s, as energy
prices stayed well below their 1990 peak and a slack labor market kept a lid on wages and prices
alike. The Federal Reserve kept cutting its policy rate through the year, reaching about 3% by
September, the lowest in decades, trying to jump-start hiring more than a year after the 1990-91
recession officially ended. The sluggish job market became the defining issue of the November
election, and Bill Clinton unseated incumbent George H.W. Bush, whose approval ratings had
fallen sharply from their post-Gulf War highs. In August, Hurricane Andrew tore through South
Florida, the costliest U.S. hurricane on record at the time, causing tens of billions of dollars
in damage and reshaping how insurers priced catastrophe risk for years afterward. Falling rates,
a costly hurricane, and an election fought over jobs defined a recovery that showed up in the
data well before it showed up in most paychecks.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 1992: $100 is worth $861 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-1992/