$100 in 1942 is worth $1,129 in 2003,
because prices increased 1028.8% over that period, an average of
4.05% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,129
in 2003
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1028.8%
Average inflation rate
4.05% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,129
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,029
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2003
184
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
$100 in 1942 → 2003
$1,129
$100 in 2003 → 1942
$8.86
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2003
Between 1942 and 2003, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 184.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1028.8%, which works out to an average of
4.05% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.09 buys in 2003: the 1942 dollar
lost 91.1% of its purchasing power over
these 61 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 2003 at the same ratio, 11.29: $1,000 becomes
$11,288, and $10,000 becomes $112,883.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2003
$1.00
$11.29
$5.00
$56.44
$10.00
$113
$20.00
$226
$50.00
$564
$100
$1,129
$500
$5,644
$1,000
$11,288
$5,000
$56,442
$10,000
$112,883
$100,000
$1,128,834
$1,000,000
$11,288,344
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2003
Between 1942 and 2003, medical care rose the most, up 2676.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 352.8%, against 1028.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2003, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.05%
$1,129
Medical care
5.60%
$2,777
Food
4.11%
$1,169
Transportation
3.82%
$985
Apparel
2.51%
$453
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 2003
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 1942–2003 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
2000–2003
2.23%
6.9%
$1,129
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $256 by
1972, on its way to $1,129 in 2003; 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: 2003
In 2003, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,129; the year's average CPI of 184 is the level
behind every 2003 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2003: $100 is worth $1,129 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2003/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2003. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2003/