$100 in 1942 is worth $1,056 in 2000,
because prices increased 956.4% over that period, an average of
4.15% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,056
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
956.4%
Average inflation rate
4.15% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,056
Price difference ($100 base)
$956
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1942 → 2000
$1,056
$100 in 2000 → 1942
$9.47
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2000
Between 1942 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 956.4%, which works out to an average of
4.15% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.09 buys in 2000: the 1942 dollar
lost 90.5% of its purchasing power over
these 58 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 2000 at the same ratio, 10.56: $1,000 becomes
$10,564, and $10,000 becomes $105,644.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2000
$1.00
$10.56
$5.00
$52.82
$10.00
$106
$20.00
$211
$50.00
$528
$100
$1,056
$500
$5,282
$1,000
$10,564
$5,000
$52,822
$10,000
$105,644
$100,000
$1,056,442
$1,000,000
$10,564,417
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2000
Between 1942 and 2000, medical care rose the most, up 2337.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 385.4%, against 956.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.15%
$1,056
Medical care
5.66%
$2,437
Food
4.20%
$1,090
Transportation
3.97%
$958
Apparel
2.76%
$485
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 2000
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 1942–2000 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,056
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $238 by
1970, on its way to $1,056 in 2000; 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: 2000
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,056; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2000: $100 is worth $1,056 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2000/