What is $1 from 2009 worth today?
$1 in 2009 is worth $1.57 in September 2026, based on the official Consumer Price Index. Prices have risen 57% since 2009, an average of 2.66% a year over 17 years. In other words, prices have doubled about 0.7 times, and a dollar today buys 63.7% of what it bought in 2009.
The same ratio applies to any amount: $20 from 2009 is worth $31.41, $100 is worth $157.05 and $1,000 is worth $1,571 in today's dollars.
Inflation in 2009
The CPI-U averaged 214.537 in 2009, down 0.4% from 215.303 in 2008, so prices actually fell (deflation). From December 2008 to December 2009, prices rose 2.7%. This was the period of the Great Recession. Ranked by annual inflation, 2009 is number 100 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 2009 had the decade's lowest inflation.
2009 prices in today's money, and today's prices in 2009 money
If something cost $5 in 2009, the same buying power today is $7.85. Going the other way, $100 in September 2026 would have bought what $63.67 bought in 2009, and a $60,000 salary today has the buying power of a $38,203 salary in 2009.
If your pay in 2009 was, say, $1,000 a month, you would need about $1,571 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 2009 inflation figure is calculated
The calculation divides the latest CPI-U (336.94 for September 2026) by the 2009 annual average (214.537): 336.94 ÷ 214.537 = 1.5705. Multiply any 2009 amount by 1.5705 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 2009 or a different end date. See also $1 in 2008 and $1 in 2010. All years are on the main US inflation calculator page.