$1 in 1915 is worth $1.71 in 1919

Value of $1 from 1915 to 1919

$1 in 1915 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1.71 in 1919, an increase of $0.71 over 4 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 14.40% per year between 1915 and 1919, producing a cumulative price increase of 71.29%.

This means that prices in 1919 are 1.71 times as high as average prices since 1915, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index.

The inflation rate in 1915 was 1.00%. The inflation rate in 1919 was 14.57%. The 1919 inflation rate is higher compared to the average inflation rate of 2.79% per year between 1919 and 2024.


Inflation from 1915 to 1919
Cumulative price change71.29%
Average inflation rate14.40%
Converted amount
$1 base
$1.71
Price difference
$1 base
$0.71
CPI in 191510.100
CPI in 191917.300
Inflation in 19151.00%
Inflation in 191914.57%
$1 in 1915$1.71 in 1919

USD inflation since 1915
Annual Rate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI
Download

Buying power of $1 in 1915

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $1 in 1915 (price index tracking began in 1635).

For example, if you started with $1, you would need to end with $1.71 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When $1 is equivalent to $1.71 over time, that means that the "real value" of a single U.S. dollar decreases over time. In other words, a dollar will pay for fewer items at the store.

This effect explains how inflation erodes the value of a dollar over time. By calculating the value in 1915 dollars, the chart below shows how $1 is worth less over 4 years.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, each of these USD amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:

Dollar inflation: 1915-1919
YearDollar ValueInflation Rate
1915$1.001.00%
1916$1.087.92%
1917$1.2717.43%
1918$1.5017.97%
1919$1.7114.57%
1920$1.9815.61%
1921$1.77-10.50%
1922$1.66-6.15%
1923$1.691.79%
1924$1.690.00%
1925$1.732.34%
1926$1.751.14%
1927$1.72-1.69%
1928$1.69-1.72%
1929$1.690.00%
1930$1.65-2.34%
1931$1.50-8.98%
1932$1.36-9.87%
1933$1.29-5.11%
1934$1.333.08%
1935$1.362.24%
1936$1.381.46%
1937$1.433.60%
1938$1.40-2.08%
1939$1.38-1.42%
1940$1.390.72%
1941$1.465.00%
1942$1.6110.88%
1943$1.716.13%
1944$1.741.73%
1945$1.782.27%
1946$1.938.33%
1947$2.2114.36%
1948$2.398.07%
1949$2.36-1.24%
1950$2.391.26%
1951$2.577.88%
1952$2.621.92%
1953$2.640.75%
1954$2.660.75%
1955$2.65-0.37%
1956$2.691.49%
1957$2.783.31%
1958$2.862.85%
1959$2.880.69%
1960$2.931.72%
1961$2.961.01%
1962$2.991.00%
1963$3.031.32%
1964$3.071.31%
1965$3.121.61%
1966$3.212.86%
1967$3.313.09%
1968$3.454.19%
1969$3.635.46%
1970$3.845.72%
1971$4.014.38%
1972$4.143.21%
1973$4.406.22%
1974$4.8811.04%
1975$5.339.13%
1976$5.635.76%
1977$6.006.50%
1978$6.467.59%
1979$7.1911.35%
1980$8.1613.50%
1981$9.0010.32%
1982$9.556.16%
1983$9.863.21%
1984$10.294.32%
1985$10.653.56%
1986$10.851.86%
1987$11.253.65%
1988$11.714.14%
1989$12.284.82%
1990$12.945.40%
1991$13.494.21%
1992$13.893.01%
1993$14.312.99%
1994$14.672.56%
1995$15.092.83%
1996$15.532.95%
1997$15.892.29%
1998$16.141.56%
1999$16.502.21%
2000$17.053.36%
2001$17.532.85%
2002$17.811.58%
2003$18.222.28%
2004$18.702.66%
2005$19.343.39%
2006$19.963.23%
2007$20.532.85%
2008$21.323.84%
2009$21.24-0.36%
2010$21.591.64%
2011$22.273.16%
2012$22.732.07%
2013$23.071.46%
2014$23.441.62%
2015$23.470.12%
2016$23.761.26%
2017$24.272.13%
2018$24.872.49%
2019$25.311.76%
2020$25.621.23%
2021$26.834.70%
2022$28.988.00%
2023$30.174.12%
2024$30.731.85%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.

This conversion table shows various other 1915 amounts in 1919 dollars, based on the 71.29% change in prices:

Conversion: 1915 dollars in 1919
Initial valueEquivalent value
$1 dollar in 1915$1.71 dollars in 1919
$5 dollars in 1915$8.56 dollars in 1919
$10 dollars in 1915$17.13 dollars in 1919
$50 dollars in 1915$85.64 dollars in 1919
$100 dollars in 1915$171.29 dollars in 1919
$500 dollars in 1915$856.44 dollars in 1919
$1,000 dollars in 1915$1,712.87 dollars in 1919
$5,000 dollars in 1915$8,564.36 dollars in 1919
$10,000 dollars in 1915$17,128.71 dollars in 1919
$50,000 dollars in 1915$85,643.56 dollars in 1919
$100,000 dollars in 1915$171,287.13 dollars in 1919
$500,000 dollars in 1915$856,435.64 dollars in 1919
$1,000,000 dollars in 1915$1,712,871.29 dollars in 1919

Inflation by City

Inflation can vary widely by city, even within the United States. Here's how some cities fared in 1915 to 1919 (figures shown are purchasing power equivalents of $1):

Detroit, Michigan experienced the highest rate of inflation during the 4 years between 1915 and 1919 (16.03%).

San Francisco, California experienced the lowest rate of inflation during the 4 years between 1915 and 1919 (12.21%).

Note that some locations showing 0% inflation may have not yet reported latest data.


Inflation by Country

Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £1.00 in 1915 would be equivalent to £1.99 in 1919, an absolute change of £0.99 and a cumulative change of 99.09%.

In Canada, CA$1.00 in 1915 would be equivalent to CA$1.59 in 1919, an absolute change of CA$0.59 and a cumulative change of 59.24%.

Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $0.71 and total percent change of 71.29%.


Inflation by Spending Category

CPI is the weighted combination of many categories of spending that are tracked by the government. Breaking down these categories helps explain the main drivers behind price changes.

This chart shows the average rate of inflation for select CPI categories between 1915 and 1919.

Compare these values to the overall average of 14.40% per year:

CategoryAvg Inflation (%)Total Inflation (%)$1 in 1915 → 1919
Food and beverages0.000.001.00
Housing0.000.001.00
Apparel25.01144.232.44
Transportation0.000.001.00
Medical care0.000.001.00
Recreation0.000.001.00
Education and communication0.000.001.00
Other goods and services0.000.001.00

The graph below compares inflation in categories of goods over time. Click on a category such as "Food" to toggle it on or off:

For all these visualizations, it's important to note that not all categories may have been tracked since 1915. This table and charts use the earliest available data for each category.



How to calculate inflation rate for $1, 1915 to 1919

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1915 and 1919:

CPI in 1919 CPI in 1915
×
1915 USD value
=
1919 USD value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 10.1 in the year 1915 and 17.3 in 1919:

17.310.1
×
$1
=
$1.71

$1 in 1915 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $1.71 in 1919.

To get the total inflation rate for the 4 years between 1915 and 1919, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1919 - CPI in 1915CPI in 1915
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (4 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

17.3 - 10.110.1
×
100
=
71%

Comparison to S&P 500 Index

The average inflation rate of 14.40% has a compounding effect between 1915 and 1919. As noted above, this yearly inflation rate compounds to produce an overall price difference of 71.29% over 4 years.

To help put this inflation into perspective, if we had invested $1 in the S&P 500 index in 1915, our investment would be nominally worth approximately $1.63 in 1919. This is a return on investment of 63.28%, with an absolute return of $0.63 on top of the original $1.

These numbers are not inflation adjusted, so they are considered nominal. In order to evaluate the real return on our investment, we must calculate the return with inflation taken into account.

The compounding effect of inflation would account for 41.62% of returns ($0.68) during this period. This means the inflation-adjusted real return of our $1 investment is $-0.05. You may also want to account for capital gains tax, which would take your real return down to around $0 for most people.

Investment in S&P 500 Index, 1915-1919
Original AmountFinal AmountChange
Nominal$1$1.6363.28%
Real
Inflation Adjusted
$1$0.95-4.68%

Information displayed above may differ slightly from other S&P 500 calculators. Minor discrepancies can occur because we use the latest CPI data for inflation, annualized inflation numbers for previous years, and we compute S&P price and dividends from January of 1915 to latest available data for 1919 using average monthly close price.

For more details on the S&P 500 between 1915 and 1919, see the stock market returns calculator.


Data source & citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (CPI), established in 1913. Price index data from 1774 to 1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University and from the American Antiquarian Society. Price index data from 1634 to 1773 is from the American Antiquarian Society, using British pound equivalents.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page: “$1 in 1915 → 1919 | Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 29 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/1915-dollars-in-1919?amount=1.

Special thanks to QuickChart for their chart image API, which is used for chart downloads.

in2013dollars.com is a reference website maintained by the Official Data Foundation.


Ian Webster

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.

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» Read more about inflation and investment.

Inflation from 1915 to 1919
Cumulative price change71.29%
Average inflation rate14.40%
Converted amount
$1 base
$1.71
Price difference
$1 base
$0.71
CPI in 191510.100
CPI in 191917.300
Inflation in 19151.00%
Inflation in 191914.57%
$1 in 1915$1.71 in 1919