What is $1 from 1919 worth today?
$1 in 1919 is worth $19.48 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 1848% since 1919, an average of 2.81% a year over 107 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 4.3 times, and a dollar today buys 5.1% of what it bought in 1919.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1919 is worth $389.53, $100 is worth $1,948 and $1,000 is worth $19,476 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1919
The CPI-U averaged 17.3 in 1919, up 14.6% from 15.1 in 1918. From December 1918 to December 1919, prices rose 14.5%. This was the period of the end of the First World War. Ranked by annual inflation, 1919 is number 4 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.
1919 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1919 money
If something cost $5 in 1919, the same buying power today is $97.38. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $5.13 bought in 1919, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $3,081 salary in 1919.
If your pay in 1919 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $19,476 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 1919 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1919 annual average (17.3): 336.94 ÷ 17.3 = 19.4763. Multiply any 1919 amount by 19.4763 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 1919 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1918 and $1 in 1920. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.