Article · Prices

The value of a dollar

A dollar of January 1913, when the US consumer price index begins, buys as much as $34.26 does in October 2026. Put the other way, the dollar has lost 97.1% of its buying power since then: a dollar today buys what 2.9¢ did. Prices rose 3.2% a year on average — but not evenly, and not always.

Updated with Oct 2026 data7 min read

$1 of 1913, today

$34.26

in dollars of October 2026; prices ×34.3 since January 1913

Buying power lost since 1913

97.1%

a dollar today buys what 2.9¢ did then

Inflation a year since 1913

3.2%

compounded, January 1913 to October 2026

Last 12 months

+3.2%

Oct 2025 → Oct 2026; the latest months are estimates

Years in a row of rising prices

every calendar year since 1955, December to December; prices last fell in 1954

Inflation calculatorWhat any sum of any month since January 1871 is worth in any other month — with a link that keeps your numbers. Open the calculator →

What a dollar from each decade is worth today

Each bill below is one dollar of a decade's first January, drawn at the size of what it would buy today: its area is proportional to its value in dollars of October 2026. A dollar of 1950 is worth $14.29 today, a dollar of 1980 $4.32, a dollar of 2000 $1.99.

The biggest bill is not the oldest: a dollar of 1890 is worth $44.11, more than a dollar of January 1871 ($26.94), because prices fell for much of the late 1800s. Click a bill to open the calculator at that month.

Area = buying power in dollars of October 2026 · $100 then → today

One dollar of each decade's first January (and of January 1871), in dollars of October 2026; US consumer prices. Data: Robert J. Shiller, Yale University (US CPI-U of the BLS from 1913)

Inflation in every year since 1872

Each stripe is one calendar year, December to December: red when prices rose, blue when they fell, the stronger the color, the bigger the change. Prices fell in 33 of 154 years, 11 of them since 1913 — and not once since 1954.

The highest inflation since 1913 was +20.4% in 1918; since 1950, +13.3% in 1979. The deepest fall since 1913 was −10.8% in 1921. Before 1913 the figures are wholesale prices, which swung more: from −14.0% in 1878 to +18.6% in 1879. 2026 so far: +3.6% to October 2026.

below −5%−5% … −2%−2% … 0%0% … +2%+2% … +4%+4% … +7%+7% … +10%+10% and above

Change in US consumer prices from December to December; before 1913, wholesale prices. Hover or tap a year. Data: Robert J. Shiller, Yale University (US CPI-U of the BLS from 1913)

Inflation by year, % (December to December)
Decade	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	A year
1870s			2.3	−5.9	−5.5	−5.0	−1.7	−11.5	−14.0	18.6	−2.8%^*
1880s	−2.0	7.0	−1.9	−7.6	−10.3	−1.1	−4.7	6.1	0.0	−5.7	−2.2%
1890s	1.2	−4.8	1.3	−7.5	−6.8	2.9	−1.4	0.0	1.4	16.9	+0.1%
1900s	−3.6	5.0	7.1	−5.6	4.7	0.0	5.6	−2.1	3.3	10.5	+2.4%
1910s	−7.6	−2.1	7.4	3.0	1.0	2.0	12.6	18.1	20.4	14.5	+6.6%
1920s	2.6	−10.8	−2.3	2.4	0.0	3.5	−1.1	−2.3	−1.2	0.6	−0.9%
1930s	−6.4	−9.3	−10.3	0.8	1.5	3.0	1.4	2.9	−2.8	0.0	−2.0%
1940s	0.7	9.9	9.0	3.0	2.3	2.2	18.1	8.8	3.0	−2.1	+5.4%
1950s	5.9	6.0	0.8	0.7	−0.7	0.4	3.0	2.9	1.8	1.7	+2.2%
1960s	1.4	0.7	1.3	1.6	1.0	1.9	3.5	3.0	4.7	6.2	+2.5%
1970s	5.6	3.3	3.4	8.7	12.3	6.9	4.9	6.7	9.0	13.3	+7.4%
1980s	12.5	8.9	3.8	3.8	3.9	3.8	1.1	4.4	4.4	4.6	+5.1%
1990s	6.1	3.1	2.9	2.7	2.7	2.5	3.3	1.7	1.6	2.7	+2.9%
2000s	3.4	1.6	2.4	1.9	3.3	3.4	2.5	4.1	0.1	2.7	+2.5%
2010s	1.5	3.0	1.7	1.5	0.8	0.7	2.1	2.1	1.9	2.3	+1.8%
2020s	1.4	7.0	6.5	3.4	2.9	2.7	3.6^*				+4.0%^*

Each cell is one year: the decade on the left plus the digit above the column. “A year”: the decade's average, compounded. Before 1913: wholesale prices. * Not a whole decade or year: the data run from January 1871 to October 2026.

Long runs of rising and falling prices

Prices have risen every calendar year since 1955: 71 years in a row, and over that run they grew ×12.1. No other run in the data comes near it: the next longest rise lasted 9 years (1940–1948).

The longest stretch of falling prices was 6 years, 1873–1878, when prices fell 37% in all. Since 1913 no fall has lasted longer than 3 years in a row (1930–1932, 24% in all).

Longest runs of rising prices

1955–202571 years and countingprices ×12.1
1940–19489 yearsprices +72.1%
1912–19209 yearsprices ×2.15
1933–19375 yearsprices +9.9%
1950–19534 yearsprices +14.0%

Longest runs of falling prices

1873–18786 yearsprices −36.8%
1882–18865 yearsprices −23.4%
1930–19323 yearsprices −23.8%
1926–19283 yearsprices −4.5%
1921–19222 yearsprices −12.9%

Calendar years in a row in which prices rose (or fell), December to December; a year without change ends a run. The change in prices over the whole run. Data: Robert J. Shiller, Yale University (US CPI-U of the BLS from 1913)

Prices doubled 5 times since 1913

Since January 1913 US consumer prices have doubled 5 times, to ×32; the last doubling was complete in 2024. How long each one took varies widely: the fastest took 7 years (1913–1920), the slowest 50 years (1920–1970).

Since the last doubling prices are up another 7%. At 3.2% a year, the average since 1913, prices double about every 22 years.

×27.2 years1913–1920
×450 years1920–1970
×89.4 years1970–1980
×1616 years1980–1996
×3228 years1996–2024
+7%so far2024–

Each segment ends in the first month the consumer price index reached twice its level at the segment's start; its length is in proportion to the time it took. Data: Robert J. Shiller, Yale University (US CPI-U of the BLS from 1913)

Questions people ask

How much is $100 from 1950 worth today?

About $1,429 in dollars of October 2026: what cost $100 in January 1950 costs $1,429 now, as prices rose ×14.3. The dollar of 1950 has lost 93% of its buying power.

How much buying power has the dollar lost since 2000?

50%: a dollar of January 2000 is worth $1.99 in October 2026. Since January 1913 the dollar has lost 97.1%.

When did prices last fall in the US?

Measured from December to December, in 1954 (−0.7%); measured by the year's average price level, in 2009 (−0.4%). Prices fell in 33 of the 154 years since 1872. Most of the falls came before 1913.

What was the highest inflation in US history?

Since 1913, when the consumer price index begins: +20.4% in 1918, December to December. Since 1950: +13.3% in 1979. The decade with the highest inflation was the 1970s, at +7.4% a year.

How do you work out what a dollar was worth?

Multiply the amount by the consumer price index of the later month and divide by the index of the earlier one. For a dollar of January 1913: 1 × 335.776 ÷ 9.800 = $34.26. The inflation calculator does it for any sum and any two months since January 1871.

Go deeper

Inflation calculatorAny sum, any two months since 1871 Average stock market returnBefore and after inflation, since 1871 US home pricesHome prices since 1890, before and after inflation Inflation by countryEvery economy's inflation rate, ranked

How the numbers are calculated

Data: Robert J. Shiller, Online Data (Yale University): US consumer prices by month since January 1871 — from 1913 the Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI-U (all urban consumers, not seasonally adjusted), before it Warren and Pearson's index of wholesale prices.
Before 1913 the figures are a rougher guide: there was no consumer price index yet, and wholesale prices swung more than the cost of living.
What a dollar is worth: the consumer price index of the later month divided by that of the earlier one. “A year” spreads the change evenly over the years: (later ÷ earlier)^{12 / months} − 1.
A calendar year's inflation: December to December (the year's average against the previous year's average gives slightly different numbers). A run ends with the first year that goes the other way or does not change.
An average: the index follows a basket of goods and services bought by urban households; single prices — a house, college, a computer — changed very differently.
Shiller's notes on the latest months: Sept/Oct CPI estimated.