$100 in 1949 has the buying power of $1,415.71 in September 2026. Prices are 1,315.7% higher, an average of 3.49% a year, by the official Consumer Price Index (CPI-U): 1949's average index was 23.8 and September 2026's is 336.940. Put the other way, $100 in September 2026 buys what $7.06 did in 1949.
Inflation in 1949 was −1.2% (the change in the year's average CPI from 1948; December to December, −2.1%), one of the 13 years prices fell since 1914.
| Year | Average CPI-U | Inflation | $100 then is worth today |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | 17.6 | +1.7% | $1,914.43 |
| 1945 | 18.0 | +2.3% | $1,871.89 |
| 1946 | 19.5 | +8.3% | $1,727.90 |
| 1947 | 22.3 | +14.4% | $1,510.94 |
| 1948 | 24.1 | +8.1% | $1,398.09 |
| 1949 | 23.8 | −1.2% | $1,415.71 |
| 1950 | 24.1 | +1.3% | $1,398.09 |
| 1951 | 26.0 | +7.9% | $1,295.92 |
| 1952 | 26.5 | +1.9% | $1,271.47 |
| 1953 | 26.7 | +0.8% | $1,261.95 |
| 1954 | 26.9 | +0.7% | $1,252.57 |
3.49% a year, compounded from the middle of 1949 to September 2026: prices are 1,315.7% higher in all, so a dollar from 1949 is worth $14.16 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.
1948 · Inflation calculator, any month since 1913 · 1950
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.