Value of a Dollar in 1920
1920 was the top of the World War I price surge. Prices fell hard in the two years after it, so a 1920 dollar went further in 1922.
More optionsYear average → today (August 2026)
A month compares month to month, as BLS’s own calculator does.
Worth in
$1 in 1920 is worth
$16.75in August 2026
Prices rose 1574.9% in between, so $1 of 1920 goods costs $16.75 in August 2026.
The price of $1 of 1920 goods, year by year
- Total inflation
- +1574.9%
- Average a year
- 2.69%
- $1 of cash now buys
- $0.06 of 1920 goods
Official CPI-U data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, through August 2026. These are averages for urban consumers, not advice. Terms
How this works: Method, 6 sources,
How this works
Method
A dollar from 1920 is worth what its goods cost now: the amount × the CPI now ÷ the CPI in 1920. For 1920 the calculator uses BLS’s annual average, the mean of the twelve monthly indexes; pick a month above for a month-to-month figure, which is how BLS’s own CPI Inflation Calculator works. Full method
Sources
Limits
Official CPI-U data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, through August 2026. These are averages for urban consumers, not advice.
Changes
- First version: what a dollar is worth from 1913 to August 2026, your own inflation rate, whether a raise beat inflation, the current rate, the rate by year and 12 year pages.
$1 from 1920, worked out
The CPI-U averaged 20.0 in 1920 and 334.980 in August 2026. Divide the two: 334.980 ÷ 20.0 = 16.749, so $1 of 1920 goods costs $16.75 now. The same factor scales any amount: $100 in 1920 is $1,675 today, a total rise of 1575% or 2.69% a year over 106 years.
Prices around 1920
1920 was the top of the World War I inflation. The CPI averaged 20.0 that year, double its 1913 level, and the 12-month rate reached 23.7% in June 1920, the fastest rise anywhere in the record.
With a modest outflow of gold and inflation rising, the Fed raised its discount rate sharply in 1920. The price level began to fall and the economy went into a recession. The index fell 10.5% in 1921 and another 6.1% in 1922, so the same goods cost less two years later.
The recession was short, and the rest of the decade had steady growth with low inflation. The CPI ended the 1920s at 17.2, 14% below its 1920 average. Prices did not pass that 1920 level again until 1947, after another war. That is why a 1920 dollar is worth less in today’s money than a 1930 or 1940 dollar.
- The CPI’s 12-month rate peaked at 23.7% in June 1920, the highest in the series since 1913. Source: BLS, CPI-U all items (CUUR0000SA0).
- A modest gold outflow and rising inflation led the Fed to raise its discount rate sharply in 1920; the price level then fell and a recession followed. Source: Federal Reserve History, The Fed’s formative years.
- The CPI fell 10.5% in 1921 and 6.1% in 1922. Source: BLS, CPI-U all items (CUUR0000SA0).
How the value of a dollar is worked out
A dollar from 1920 is worth what its goods cost now: the amount × the CPI now ÷ the CPI in 1920. For 1920 the calculator uses BLS’s annual average, the mean of the twelve monthly indexes; pick a month above for a month-to-month figure, which is how BLS’s own CPI Inflation Calculator works.
The index is the CPI-U, all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted: the series BLS publishes back to 1913. It measures the prices urban consumers pay, so it says what a dollar buys, not what an investment earned.
value now = amount × CPI(August 2026) ÷ CPI(1920)
$1 from 1920 in later years
What $1 of 1920 goods cost in each later year (annual averages), with that year’s inflation; the last row is the latest month.
| Year | CPI-U | $1 from 1920 | Inflation that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | 20.0 | $1 | +15.6% |
| 1930 | 16.7 | $0.84 | −2.9% |
| 1940 | 14.0 | $0.70 | +0.7% |
| 1950 | 24.1 | $1.21 | +1.3% |
| 1960 | 29.6 | $1.48 | +1.7% |
| 1970 | 38.8 | $1.94 | +5.7% |
| 1980 | 82.4 | $4.12 | +13.5% |
| 1990 | 130.7 | $6.53 | +5.4% |
| 2000 | 172.2 | $8.61 | +3.4% |
| 2010 | 218.056 | $10.90 | +1.6% |
Show all 13 rowsShow fewer
| 2020 | 258.811 | $12.94 | +1.2% |
| 2025 | 321.943 | $16.10 | +2.6% |
| August 2026 | 334.980 | $16.75 | +3.4% (12 months) |
Data: BLS, CPI-U all items (CUUR0000SA0) · BLS, CPI-U all items, seasonally adjusted (CUSR0000SA0) · BLS, Consumer Price Index data · BLS, Relative importance of CPI components, December 2025 · BLS, Average hourly earnings, total private (CES0500000003). Inflation calculator
Frequently Asked Questions
Why were prices so high in 1920?
World War I. Gold flowed into the United States and borrowing grew, so the money supply rose, and the Fed concentrated on financing the war rather than on raising rates. Prices doubled between 1913 and 1920.
Did prices go down after 1920?
Yes. After the Fed raised its discount rate in 1920, prices fell 10.5% in 1921 and 6.1% in 1922, then stayed fairly flat for the rest of the decade.
What was $1 from 1920 worth in 1929?
About $0.86. Prices were lower in 1929 than in 1920, so the same goods cost less: a dollar saved in 1920 bought more at the end of the decade.