$100 in 1942 is worth $1,198 in 2005,
because prices increased 1098.2% over that period, an average of
4.02% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,198
in 2005
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1098.2%
Average inflation rate
4.02% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,198
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,098
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2005
195.3
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2005
3.39%
$100 in 1942 → 2005
$1,198
$100 in 2005 → 1942
$8.35
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2005
Between 1942 and 2005, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 195.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1098.2%, which works out to an average of
4.02% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2005: the 1942 dollar
lost 91.7% of its purchasing power over
these 63 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 2005 at the same ratio, 11.98: $1,000 becomes
$11,982, and $10,000 becomes $119,816.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2005
$1.00
$11.98
$5.00
$59.91
$10.00
$120
$20.00
$240
$50.00
$599
$100
$1,198
$500
$5,991
$1,000
$11,982
$5,000
$59,908
$10,000
$119,816
$100,000
$1,198,160
$1,000,000
$11,981,595
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2005
Between 1942 and 2005, medical care rose the most, up 2920.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 347.6%, against 1098.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2005, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.02%
$1,198
Medical care
5.56%
$3,021
Food
4.08%
$1,238
Transportation
3.86%
$1,087
Apparel
2.41%
$448
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 2005
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 1942–2005 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
2000–2005
2.55%
13.4%
$1,198
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $256 by
1972, on its way to $1,198 in 2005; 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: 2005
In 2005, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,198; the year's average CPI of 195.3 is the level
behind every 2005 figure on this page.
Inflation rose to 3.4% in 2005, up from 2.7% in 2004, as gasoline averaged $2.30 a gallon,
compared with $1.88 the year before. Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, and with
Hurricane Rita weeks later it disrupted Gulf Coast refining, pushing the national average
price past $3 in early September. The Federal Reserve raised its policy rate at every meeting,
from 2.25% to 4.25%, to keep energy costs from feeding into other prices. The median household
earned about $46,300, up 4.5% from 2004, but the median new home price rose a further 9%, to
$240,900. In April, Congress passed a bankruptcy law that made it harder to clear debts. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents until January 2006, and the federal minimum wage stayed
at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2005: $100 is worth $1,198 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2005/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2005. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2005/