$100 in 1942 is worth $1,454 in 2015,
because prices increased 1354.1% over that period, an average of
3.74% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,454
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1354.1%
Average inflation rate
3.74% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,454
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,354
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1942 → 2015
$1,454
$100 in 2015 → 1942
$6.88
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2015
Between 1942 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1354.1%, which works out to an average of
3.74% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2015: the 1942 dollar
lost 93.1% of its purchasing power over
these 73 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 2015 at the same ratio, 14.54: $1,000 becomes
$14,541, and $10,000 becomes $145,409.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2015
$1.00
$14.54
$5.00
$72.70
$10.00
$145
$20.00
$291
$50.00
$727
$100
$1,454
$500
$7,270
$1,000
$14,541
$5,000
$72,705
$10,000
$145,409
$100,000
$1,454,092
$1,000,000
$14,540,920
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2015
Between 1942 and 2015, medical care rose the most, up 4075.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 371.5%, against 1354.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.74%
$1,454
Medical care
5.24%
$4,175
Food
3.88%
$1,605
Transportation
3.51%
$1,244
Apparel
2.15%
$472
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 2015
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.68% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1942–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$1,454
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $372 by
1977, on its way to $1,454 in 2015; 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: 2015
In 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,454; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2015: $100 is worth $1,454 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2015/