What is $1 from 2008 worth today?
$1 in 2008 is worth $1.56 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 56% since 2008, an average of 2.49% a year over 18 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 0.6 times, and a dollar today buys 63.9% of what it bought in 2008.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 2008 is worth $31.30, $100 is worth $156.50 and $1,000 is worth $1,565 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 2008
The CPI-U averaged 215.303 in 2008, up 3.8% from 207.342 in 2007. From December 2007 to December 2008, prices rose 0.1%. This was the period of the global financial crisis. Ranked by annual inflation, 2008 is number 35 of the 112 years from 1914 to 2025.
In the 2000s, annual inflation averaged 2.6% a year. The highest rate was 3.8% in 2008 and the lowest -0.4% in 2009, so 2008 had the decade's highest inflation.
2008 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 2008 money
If something cost $5 in 2008, the same buying power today is $7.82. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $63.90 bought in 2008, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $38,340 salary in 2008.
If your pay in 2008 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $1,565 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 2008 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 2008 annual average (215.303): 336.94 ÷ 215.303 = 1.5650. Multiply any 2008 amount by 1.5650 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 2008 or a different end date. See also $1 in 2007 and $1 in 2009. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.