$100 in 1942 is worth $1,472 in 2016,
because prices increased 1372.4% over that period, an average of
3.70% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,472
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1372.4%
Average inflation rate
3.70% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,472
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,372
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1942 → 2016
$1,472
$100 in 2016 → 1942
$6.79
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2016
Between 1942 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1372.4%, which works out to an average of
3.70% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2016: the 1942 dollar
lost 93.2% of its purchasing power over
these 74 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 2016 at the same ratio, 14.72: $1,000 becomes
$14,724, and $10,000 becomes $147,244.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2016
$1.00
$14.72
$5.00
$73.62
$10.00
$147
$20.00
$294
$50.00
$736
$100
$1,472
$500
$7,362
$1,000
$14,724
$5,000
$73,622
$10,000
$147,244
$100,000
$1,472,436
$1,000,000
$14,724,356
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2016
Between 1942 and 2016, medical care rose the most, up 4233.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 372.1%, against 1372.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.70%
$1,472
Medical care
5.23%
$4,333
Food
3.83%
$1,610
Transportation
3.44%
$1,218
Apparel
2.12%
$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 2016
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.61% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1942–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$1,472
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $372 by
1977, on its way to $1,472 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,472; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2016: $100 is worth $1,472 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2016/