$100 in 1969 has the buying power of $918.09 in September 2026. Prices are 818.1% higher, an average of 3.95% a year, by the official Consumer Price Index (CPI-U): 1969's average index was 36.7 and September 2026's is 336.940. Put the other way, $100 in September 2026 buys what $10.89 did in 1969.
Inflation in 1969 was 5.5% (the change in the year's average CPI from 1968; December to December, 6.2%), the 24th highest of the 112 years since 1914.
| Year | Average CPI-U | Inflation | $100 then is worth today |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 31.0 | +1.3% | $1,086.90 |
| 1965 | 31.5 | +1.6% | $1,069.65 |
| 1966 | 32.4 | +2.9% | $1,039.94 |
| 1967 | 33.4 | +3.1% | $1,008.80 |
| 1968 | 34.8 | +4.2% | $968.22 |
| 1969 | 36.7 | +5.5% | $918.09 |
| 1970 | 38.8 | +5.7% | $868.40 |
| 1971 | 40.5 | +4.4% | $831.95 |
| 1972 | 41.8 | +3.2% | $806.08 |
| 1973 | 44.4 | +6.2% | $758.87 |
| 1974 | 49.3 | +11.0% | $683.45 |
3.95% a year, compounded from the middle of 1969 to September 2026: prices are 818.1% higher in all, so a dollar from 1969 is worth $9.18 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.
1968 · Inflation calculator, any month since 1913 · 1970
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.