$100 in 1942 is worth $1,338 in 2010,
because prices increased 1237.8% over that period, an average of
3.89% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,338
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1237.8%
Average inflation rate
3.89% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,338
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,238
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1942 → 2010
$1,338
$100 in 2010 → 1942
$7.48
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2010
Between 1942 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1237.8%, which works out to an average of
3.89% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2010: the 1942 dollar
lost 92.5% of its purchasing power over
these 68 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 2010 at the same ratio, 13.38: $1,000 becomes
$13,378, and $10,000 becomes $133,777.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2010
$1.00
$13.38
$5.00
$66.89
$10.00
$134
$20.00
$268
$50.00
$669
$100
$1,338
$500
$6,689
$1,000
$13,378
$5,000
$66,888
$10,000
$133,777
$100,000
$1,337,767
$1,000,000
$13,377,669
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2010
Between 1942 and 2010, medical care rose the most, up 3530.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 347.6%, against 1237.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.89%
$1,338
Medical care
5.42%
$3,630
Food
3.99%
$1,426
Transportation
3.73%
$1,209
Apparel
2.23%
$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 2010
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 1942–2010 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,338
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $372 by
1977, on its way to $1,338 in 2010; 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: 2010
In 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,338; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2010: $100 is worth $1,338 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2010/