What is $1 from 1981 worth today?
$1 in 1981 is worth $3.71 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 271% since 1981, an average of 2.94% a year over 45 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 1.9 times, and a dollar today buys 27.0% of what it bought in 1981.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 1981 is worth $74.13, $100 is worth $370.67 and $1,000 is worth $3,707 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 1981
The CPI-U averaged 90.9 in 1981, up 10.3% from 82.4 in 1980. From December 1980 to December 1981, prices rose 8.9%. This was the period of the early-1980s fight against inflation. Ranked by annual inflation, 1981 is number 10 of the 112 years from 1914 to 2025.
In the 1980s, annual inflation averaged 5.5% a year. The highest rate was 13.5% in 1980 and the lowest 1.9% in 1986.
1981 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 1981 money
If something cost $5 in 1981, the same buying power today is $18.53. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $26.98 bought in 1981, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $16,187 salary in 1981.
If your pay in 1981 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $3,707 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 1981 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 1981 annual average (90.9): 336.94 ÷ 90.9 = 3.7067. Multiply any 1981 amount by 3.7067 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 1981 or a different end date. See also $1 in 1980 and $1 in 1982. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.