What is $1 from 1941 worth today?
$1 in 1941 is worth $22.92 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 2192% since 1941, an average of 3.74% a year over 85 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 4.5 times, and a dollar today buys 4.4% of what it bought in 1941.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1941 is worth $458.42, $100 is worth $2,292 and $1,000 is worth $22,921 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1941
The CPI-U averaged 14.7 in 1941, up 5.0% from 14 in 1940. From December 1940 to December 1941, prices rose 9.9%. Ranked by annual inflation, 1941 is number 26 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.
1941 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1941 money
If something cost $5 in 1941, the same buying power today is $114.61. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $4.36 bought in 1941, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $2,618 salary in 1941.
If your pay in 1941 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $22,921 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 1941 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1941 annual average (14.7): 336.94 ÷ 14.7 = 22.9211. Multiply any 1941 amount by 22.9211 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 1941 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1940 and $1 in 1942. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.