$100 in 1942 is worth $1,452 in 2014,
because prices increased 1352.4% over that period, an average of
3.79% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,452
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1352.4%
Average inflation rate
3.79% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,452
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,352
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1942 → 2014
$1,452
$100 in 2014 → 1942
$6.89
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2014
Between 1942 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1352.4%, which works out to an average of
3.79% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2014: the 1942 dollar
lost 93.1% of its purchasing power over
these 72 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 2014 at the same ratio, 14.52: $1,000 becomes
$14,524, and $10,000 becomes $145,237.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2014
$1.00
$14.52
$5.00
$72.62
$10.00
$145
$20.00
$290
$50.00
$726
$100
$1,452
$500
$7,262
$1,000
$14,524
$5,000
$72,618
$10,000
$145,237
$100,000
$1,452,368
$1,000,000
$14,523,681
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2014
Between 1942 and 2014, medical care rose the most, up 3968.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 377.6%, against 1352.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.79%
$1,452
Medical care
5.28%
$4,068
Food
3.90%
$1,576
Transportation
3.68%
$1,350
Apparel
2.20%
$478
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 2014
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1942–2014 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
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$1,452
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $372 by
1977, on its way to $1,452 in 2014; 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: 2014
In 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,452; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2014: $100 is worth $1,452 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2014/