What is $1 from 1946 worth today?
$1 in 1946 is worth $17.28 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 1628% since 1946, an average of 3.62% a year over 80 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 4.1 times, and a dollar today buys 5.8% of what it bought in 1946.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1946 is worth $345.58, $100 is worth $1,728 and $1,000 is worth $17,279 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1946
The CPI-U averaged 19.5 in 1946, up 8.3% from 18 in 1945. From December 1945 to December 1946, prices rose 18.1%. This was the period of the end of wartime price controls. Ranked by annual inflation, 1946 is number 12 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.
1946 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1946 money
If something cost $5 in 1946, the same buying power today is $86.39. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $5.79 bought in 1946, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $3,472 salary in 1946.
If your pay in 1946 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $17,279 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 1946 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1946 annual average (19.5): 336.94 ÷ 19.5 = 17.2790. Multiply any 1946 amount by 17.2790 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 1946 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1945 and $1 in 1947. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.