$100 in 1942 is worth $1,541 in 2018,
because prices increased 1440.5% over that period, an average of
3.66% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,541
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1440.5%
Average inflation rate
3.66% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,541
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,441
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1942 → 2018
$1,541
$100 in 2018 → 1942
$6.49
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2018
Between 1942 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1440.5%, which works out to an average of
3.66% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2018: the 1942 dollar
lost 93.5% of its purchasing power over
these 76 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 2018 at the same ratio, 15.41: $1,000 becomes
$15,405, and $10,000 becomes $154,053.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2018
$1.00
$15.41
$5.00
$77.03
$10.00
$154
$20.00
$308
$50.00
$770
$100
$1,541
$500
$7,703
$1,000
$15,405
$5,000
$77,027
$10,000
$154,053
$100,000
$1,540,534
$1,000,000
$15,405,337
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2018
Between 1942 and 2018, medical care rose the most, up 4430.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 370.6%, against 1440.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.66%
$1,541
Medical care
5.15%
$4,530
Food
3.75%
$1,646
Transportation
3.45%
$1,317
Apparel
2.06%
$471
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 2018
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.78% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1942–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$1,541
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $592 by
1982, on its way to $1,541 in 2018; 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: 2018
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,541; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2018: $100 is worth $1,541 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2018/