What is $1 from 1918 worth today?
$1 in 1918 is worth $22.31 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 2131% since 1918, an average of 2.91% a year over 108 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 4.5 times, and a dollar today buys 4.5% of what it bought in 1918.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1918 is worth $446.28, $100 is worth $2,231 and $1,000 is worth $22,314 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1918
The CPI-U averaged 15.1 in 1918, up 18.0% from 12.8 in 1917. From December 1917 to December 1918, prices rose 20.4%. This was the period of the First World War. Ranked by annual inflation, 1918 is number 1 of the 112 years from 1914 to 2025.
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, so 1918 had the decade's highest inflation.
1918 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1918 money
If something cost $5 in 1918, the same buying power today is $111.57. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $4.48 bought in 1918, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $2,689 salary in 1918.
If your pay in 1918 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $22,314 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 1918 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1918 annual average (15.1): 336.94 ÷ 15.1 = 22.3139. Multiply any 1918 amount by 22.3139 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 1918 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1917 and $1 in 1919. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.