What is $1 from 1931 worth today?
$1 in 1931 is worth $22.17 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 2117% since 1931, an average of 3.31% a year over 95 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 4.5 times, and a dollar today buys 4.5% of what it bought in 1931.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1931 is worth $443.34, $100 is worth $2,217 and $1,000 is worth $22,167 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1931
The CPI-U averaged 15.2 in 1931, down 9.0% from 16.7 in 1930, so prices actually fell (deflation). From December 1930 to December 1931, prices fell 9.3%. This was the period of the Great Depression. Ranked by annual inflation, 1931 is number 110 of the 112 years from 1914 to 2025.
In the 1930s, annual inflation averaged -2.1% a year. The highest rate was 3.6% in 1937 and the lowest -9.9% in 1932.
1931 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1931 money
If something cost $5 in 1931, the same buying power today is $110.84. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $4.51 bought in 1931, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $2,707 salary in 1931.
If your pay in 1931 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $22,167 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 1931 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1931 annual average (15.2): 336.94 ÷ 15.2 = 22.1671. Multiply any 1931 amount by 22.1671 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 1931 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1930 and $1 in 1932. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.