$100 in 1944 is worth $1,324 in 2013,
because prices increased 1223.6% over that period, an average of
3.81% a year.
$100 in 1944 has
the same buying power as
$1,324
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1223.6%
Average inflation rate
3.81% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,324
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,224
CPI in 1944
17.6
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1944
1.73%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1944 → 2013
$1,324
$100 in 2013 → 1944
$7.56
What happened to prices between 1944 and 2013
Between 1944 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.6 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1223.6%, which works out to an average of
3.81% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1944 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2013: the 1944 dollar
lost 92.4% of its purchasing power over
these 69 years.
Consumer prices rose just 1.7% in 1944, down from 1943’s
6.1% and the slowest increase of the war years, as price and wage controls
held the cost of living nearly flat even as the conflict reached its most
expensive phase. The war itself turned decisively that June, when more than
150,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, opening the
long-planned second front against Nazi Germany. Congress used the same
month to plan for the war’s end, passing the GI Bill on June 22 to give
returning veterans money for college or vocational training, low-cost home
and business loans, and unemployment benefits, a package that would reshape
American housing and higher education for a generation. The following
month, delegates from 44 Allied nations gathered at Bretton Woods, New
Hampshire, and agreed to peg their currencies to the U.S. dollar, itself
pegged to gold, creating the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
to manage the new system. Consumer prices stood 77.8% above their
1913 level, a cumulative wartime rise held down by controls
that would start unwinding the following year. First-class postage held at
3 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at 30 cents an hour.
Every 1944 amount converts to 2013 at the same ratio, 13.24: $1,000 becomes
$13,236, and $10,000 becomes $132,362.
Amount in 1944
Value in 2013
$1.00
$13.24
$5.00
$66.18
$10.00
$132
$20.00
$265
$50.00
$662
$100
$1,324
$500
$6,618
$1,000
$13,236
$5,000
$66,181
$10,000
$132,362
$100,000
$1,323,619
$1,000,000
$13,236,193
Inflation by spending category, 1944–2013
Between 1944 and 2013, medical care rose the most, up 3564.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 327.6%, against 1223.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1944
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1944 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.81%
$1,324
Medical care
5.36%
$3,665
Food
3.90%
$1,403
Transportation
3.86%
$1,367
Apparel
2.13%
$428
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1944: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1944 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1950s (2.08% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1944–2013 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1944, at end
1944–1950
5.38%
36.9%
$137
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$168
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$220
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$468
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$743
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$978
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,239
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$1,324
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1944
$100 from 1944 had already become $412 by
1979, on its way to $1,324 in 2013; 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: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1944 had the buying
power of $1,324; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1944 to 2013: $100 is worth $1,324 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1944-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1944 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1944-to-2013/