What would that have cost in the past?
A dollar in 1960 bought about eleven times what it does now. Here is what that means for real things.
6.33 × $1 in 1920
100 USD is more than 7 of the 7 references on this page.
Reference figures are measurements and are rounded; the unit conversion behind them is exact.
| Reference | Size | Yours ÷ theirs | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1 today | 1 USD | 100× | |
| $1 in 2020 | 1.24 USD | 80.6× | |
| $1 in 2010 | 1.45 USD | 69× | |
| $1 in 1990 | 2.4 USD | 41.7× | |
| $1 in 1970 | 8.1 USD | 12.3× | |
| $1 in 1950 | 13 USD | 7.69× | |
| $1 in 1920 | 15.8 USD | 6.33× | In today’s money |
Worth knowing
- A 1970 dollar has the purchasing power of about $8 today, so the "$0.36 gallon of gas" of that era was roughly $2.90 in modern money.
- Prices roughly double every 25 years at 2.9% inflation — the long-run US average since 1913.
Frequently asked
How is inflation measured?
By pricing a fixed basket of goods and services over time. The basket is revised periodically, which is why long-run comparisons are indicative rather than exact.
Why do old prices feel so much cheaper?
Partly inflation and partly that wages rose too. A 1970 salary bought less housing and far less healthcare, but far more petrol and food, than the same relative wage today.
How to read this
Multipliers use US CPI-U and are rounded. Different countries and different baskets give different answers.