What is $1 from 1940 worth today?
$1 in 1940 is worth $24.07 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 2307% since 1940, an average of 3.76% a year over 86 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 4.6 times, and a dollar today buys 4.2% of what it bought in 1940.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1940 is worth $481.34, $100 is worth $2,407 and $1,000 is worth $24,067 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1940
The CPI-U averaged 14 in 1940, up 0.7% from 13.9 in 1939. From December 1939 to December 1940, prices rose 0.7%. Ranked by annual inflation, 1940 is number 95 of the 112 years from 1914 to 2025.
In the 1940s, annual inflation averaged 5.5% a year. The highest rate was 14.4% in 1947 and the lowest -1.2% in 1949.
1940 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1940 money
If something cost $5 in 1940, the same buying power today is $120.34. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $4.16 bought in 1940, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $2,493 salary in 1940.
If your pay in 1940 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $24,067 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 1940 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1940 annual average (14): 336.94 ÷ 14 = 24.0671. Multiply any 1940 amount by 24.0671 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 1940 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1939 and $1 in 1941. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.