$100 in 1942 is worth $1,504 in 2017,
because prices increased 1403.8% over that period, an average of
3.68% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,504
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1403.8%
Average inflation rate
3.68% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,504
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,404
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1942 → 2017
$1,504
$100 in 2017 → 1942
$6.65
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2017
Between 1942 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1403.8%, which works out to an average of
3.68% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2017: the 1942 dollar
lost 93.4% of its purchasing power over
these 75 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 2017 at the same ratio, 15.04: $1,000 becomes
$15,038, and $10,000 becomes $150,380.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2017
$1.00
$15.04
$5.00
$75.19
$10.00
$150
$20.00
$301
$50.00
$752
$100
$1,504
$500
$7,519
$1,000
$15,038
$5,000
$75,190
$10,000
$150,380
$100,000
$1,503,804
$1,000,000
$15,038,037
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2017
Between 1942 and 2017, medical care rose the most, up 4342.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 370.5%, against 1403.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.68%
$1,504
Medical care
5.19%
$4,442
Food
3.79%
$1,624
Transportation
3.44%
$1,260
Apparel
2.09%
$470
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 2017
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.69% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1942–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$1,504
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $372 by
1977, on its way to $1,504 in 2017; 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: 2017
In 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,504; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2017: $100 is worth $1,504 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2017/