$100 in 1942 is worth $1,321 in 2008,
because prices increased 1220.9% over that period, an average of
3.99% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,321
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1220.9%
Average inflation rate
3.99% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,321
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,221
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1942 → 2008
$1,321
$100 in 2008 → 1942
$7.57
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2008
Between 1942 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1220.9%, which works out to an average of
3.99% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2008: the 1942 dollar
lost 92.4% of its purchasing power over
these 66 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 2008 at the same ratio, 13.21: $1,000 becomes
$13,209, and $10,000 becomes $132,088.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2008
$1.00
$13.21
$5.00
$66.04
$10.00
$132
$20.00
$264
$50.00
$660
$100
$1,321
$500
$6,604
$1,000
$13,209
$5,000
$66,044
$10,000
$132,088
$100,000
$1,320,877
$1,000,000
$13,208,773
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2008
Between 1942 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 3302.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 345.3%, against 1220.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.99%
$1,321
Medical care
5.49%
$3,402
Food
4.07%
$1,390
Transportation
3.87%
$1,222
Apparel
2.29%
$445
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 2008
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 1942–2008 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
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$1,321
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $372 by
1977, on its way to $1,321 in 2008; 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: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,321; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2008: $100 is worth $1,321 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2008/