$100 in 1942 is worth $1,869 in 2023,
because prices increased 1769.3% over that period, an average of
3.68% a year.
$100 in 1942 has
the same buying power as
$1,869
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1769.3%
Average inflation rate
3.68% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,869
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,769
CPI in 1942
16.3
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1942 → 2023
$1,869
$100 in 2023 → 1942
$5.35
What happened to prices between 1942 and 2023
Between 1942 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.3 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1769.3%, which works out to an average of
3.68% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1942 bought what
$0.05 buys in 2023: the 1942 dollar
lost 94.7% of its purchasing power over
these 81 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 2023 at the same ratio, 18.69: $1,000 becomes
$18,693, and $10,000 becomes $186,934.
Amount in 1942
Value in 2023
$1.00
$18.69
$5.00
$93.47
$10.00
$187
$20.00
$374
$50.00
$935
$100
$1,869
$500
$9,347
$1,000
$18,693
$5,000
$93,467
$10,000
$186,934
$100,000
$1,869,337
$1,000,000
$18,693,374
Inflation by spending category, 1942–2023
Between 1942 and 2023, medical care rose the most, up 5031.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 389.1%, against 1769.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1942
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1942 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.68%
$1,869
Medical care
4.98%
$5,132
Food
3.83%
$2,097
Transportation
3.54%
$1,669
Apparel
1.98%
$489
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 2023
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 2010s (1.73% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1942–2023 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$1,588
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$1,869
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1942
$100 from 1942 had already become $592 by
1982, on its way to $1,869 in 2023; 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: 2023
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1942 had the buying
power of $1,869; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1942 to 2023: $100 is worth $1,869 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1942 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1942-to-2023/