$100 in 1939 has the buying power of $2,424.03 in September 2026. Prices are 2,324% higher, an average of 3.72% a year, by the official Consumer Price Index (CPI-U): 1939's average index was 13.9 and September 2026's is 336.940. Put the other way, $100 in September 2026 buys what $4.13 did in 1939.
Inflation in 1939 was −1.4% (the change in the year's average CPI from 1938; December to December, 0.0%), one of the 13 years prices fell since 1914.
| Year | Average CPI-U | Inflation | $100 then is worth today |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | 13.4 | +3.1% | $2,514.48 |
| 1935 | 13.7 | +2.2% | $2,459.42 |
| 1936 | 13.9 | +1.5% | $2,424.03 |
| 1937 | 14.4 | +3.6% | $2,339.86 |
| 1938 | 14.1 | −2.1% | $2,389.65 |
| 1939 | 13.9 | −1.4% | $2,424.03 |
| 1940 | 14.0 | +0.7% | $2,406.71 |
| 1941 | 14.7 | +5.0% | $2,292.11 |
| 1942 | 16.3 | +10.9% | $2,067.12 |
| 1943 | 17.3 | +6.1% | $1,947.63 |
| 1944 | 17.6 | +1.7% | $1,914.43 |
3.72% a year, compounded from the middle of 1939 to September 2026: prices are 2,324% higher in all, so a dollar from 1939 is worth $24.24 today.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, which runs back to January 1913. A year's figure is the average of its monthly indexes, as BLS computes annual averages; today's figure is the latest month, September 2026, so the answer moves each month when BLS publishes a new CPI.
1938 · Inflation calculator, any month since 1913 · 1940
Source: BLS CPI-U, all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted (FRED CPIAUCNS); through 2006, BLS's official annual averages. The answer moves each month, when BLS publishes a new CPI.