What is $1 from 1913 worth today?
$1 in 1913 is worth $34.03 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 3303% since 1913, an average of 3.16% a year over 113 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 5.1 times, and a dollar today buys 2.9% of what it bought in 1913.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1913 is worth $680.69, $100 is worth $3,403 and $1,000 is worth $34,034 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1913
1913 is the first year of the CPI-U series, so there is no earlier year to measure that year's inflation against. The index averaged 9.9, and monthly values ranged from 9.7 in May to 10.1 in November.
In the 1910s, annual inflation averaged 9.7% a year (over the 6 years with data). The highest rate was 18.0% in 1918 and the lowest 1.0% in 1915.
1913 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1913 money
If something cost $5 in 1913, the same buying power today is $170.17. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $2.94 bought in 1913, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $1,763 salary in 1913.
If your pay in 1913 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $34,034 a month in September 2026 to afford the same basket of goods and services. Remember that this is an average across consumer spending: some prices, such as housing, health care and tuition, have risen faster than the CPI, while others have risen more slowly.
How this 1913 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1913 annual average (9.9): 336.94 ÷ 9.9 = 34.0343. Multiply any 1913 amount by 34.0343 to convert it to September 2026 dollars. The data is the CPI for All Urban Consumers, U.S. city average, all items, not seasonally adjusted (BLS series CUUR0000SA0), published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Use the calculator above to pick a specific month in 1913 or a different end date. $1 in 1914. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.