What is $1 from 1947 worth today?
$1 in 1947 is worth $15.11 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 1411% since 1947, an average of 3.49% a year over 79 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 3.9 times, and a dollar today buys 6.6% of what it bought in 1947.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1947 is worth $302.19, $100 is worth $1,511 and $1,000 is worth $15,109 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1947
The CPI-U averaged 22.3 in 1947, up 14.4% from 19.5 in 1946. From December 1946 to December 1947, prices rose 8.8%. This was the period of the end of wartime price controls. Ranked by annual inflation, 1947 is number 5 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, so 1947 had the decade's highest inflation.
1947 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1947 money
If something cost $5 in 1947, the same buying power today is $75.55. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $6.62 bought in 1947, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $3,971 salary in 1947.
If your pay in 1947 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $15,109 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 1947 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1947 annual average (22.3): 336.94 ÷ 22.3 = 15.1094. Multiply any 1947 amount by 15.1094 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 1947 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1946 and $1 in 1948. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.