What is $1 from 1949 worth today?
$1 in 1949 is worth $14.16 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 1316% since 1949, an average of 3.49% a year over 77 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 3.8 times, and a dollar today buys 7.1% of what it bought in 1949.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1949 is worth $283.14, $100 is worth $1,416 and $1,000 is worth $14,157 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1949
The CPI-U averaged 23.8 in 1949, down 1.2% from 24.1 in 1948, so prices actually fell (deflation). From December 1948 to December 1949, prices fell 2.1%. Ranked by annual inflation, 1949 is number 102 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 1949 had the decade's lowest inflation.
1949 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1949 money
If something cost $5 in 1949, the same buying power today is $70.79. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $7.06 bought in 1949, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $4,238 salary in 1949.
If your pay in 1949 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $14,157 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 1949 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1949 annual average (23.8): 336.94 ÷ 23.8 = 14.1571. Multiply any 1949 amount by 14.1571 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 1949 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1948 and $1 in 1950. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.