According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for apparel are 490.09% higher in 2026 versus 1931 (a $490,085,514,190,932,541,440 difference in value).
Between 1931 and 2026:Apparel experienced an average inflation rate of 1.89% per year. In other words, apparel costing $100,000,000,000,000,000,000 in the year 1931 would cost $590,085,514,190,932,475,904 in 2026 for an equivalent purchase. Compared to the overall inflation rate of 3.28% during this same period, inflation for apparel was lower.
In the year 1931: Pricing changed by -7.56%, which is significantly below the average yearly change for apparel during the 1931-2026 time period. Compared to inflation for all items in 1931 (-8.93%), inflation for apparel was higher.
Below are calculations of equivalent buying power for Apparel, over time, for $100,000,000,000,000,000,000 beginning in 1931. Each of the amounts below is equivalent in terms of what it could buy at the time:
| Year | USD Value | Inflation Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1931 | $100,000,000,000,000,000,000.00 | -7.56% |
| 1932 | $87,946,922,226,317,737,984.00 | -12.05% |
| 1933 | $81,975,672,687,062,302,720.00 | -6.79% |
| 1934 | $90,553,898,736,722,182,144.00 | 10.46% |
| 1935 | $91,899,401,740,905,611,264.00 | 1.49% |
| 1936 | $92,922,963,509,030,584,320.00 | 1.11% |
| 1937 | $97,198,673,055,657,918,464.00 | 4.60% |
| 1938 | $97,235,532,620,715,081,728.00 | 0.04% |
| 1939 | $95,650,571,323,258,372,096.00 | -1.63% |
| 1940 | $96,461,481,754,515,308,544.00 | 0.85% |
| 1941 | $100,921,489,126,428,311,552.00 | 4.62% |
| 1942 | $118,098,046,443,051,974,656.00 | 17.02% |
| 1943 | $123,221,525,985,993,359,360.00 | 4.34% |
| 1944 | $131,846,664,209,362,321,408.00 | 7.00% |
| 1945 | $138,628,824,179,874,676,736.00 | 5.14% |
| 1946 | $152,119,424,990,785,077,248.00 | 9.73% |
| 1947 | $176,299,299,668,263,895,040.00 | 15.90% |
| 1948 | $188,020,641,356,431,982,592.00 | 6.65% |
| 1949 | $180,611,868,779,948,408,832.00 | -3.94% |
| 1950 | $178,179,137,486,177,665,024.00 | -1.35% |
| 1951 | $194,286,767,416,144,494,592.00 | 9.04% |
| 1952 | $192,185,772,207,887,941,632.00 | -1.08% |
| 1953 | $190,969,406,561,002,618,880.00 | -0.63% |
| 1954 | $190,269,074,824,917,090,304.00 | -0.37% |
| 1955 | $189,679,321,784,002,936,832.00 | -0.31% |
| 1956 | $193,512,716,549,944,672,256.00 | 2.02% |
| 1957 | $196,830,077,405,086,613,504.00 | 1.71% |
| 1958 | $197,604,128,271,286,435,840.00 | 0.39% |
| 1959 | $199,152,230,003,685,949,440.00 | 0.78% |
| 1960 | $202,137,854,773,313,634,304.00 | 1.50% |
| 1961 | $203,722,816,070,770,327,552.00 | 0.78% |
| 1962 | $204,865,462,587,541,422,080.00 | 0.56% |
| 1963 | $207,371,913,011,426,459,648.00 | 1.22% |
| 1964 | $209,141,172,134,168,788,992.00 | 0.85% |
| 1965 | $211,131,588,647,253,934,080.00 | 0.95% |
| 1966 | $216,807,961,666,052,325,376.00 | 2.69% |
| 1967 | $225,654,257,279,764,103,168.00 | 4.08% |
| 1968 | $237,707,335,053,446,381,568.00 | 5.34% |
| 1969 | $251,382,233,689,642,467,328.00 | 5.75% |
| 1970 | $261,739,771,470,696,677,376.00 | 4.12% |
| 1971 | $270,217,471,433,837,019,136.00 | 3.24% |
| 1972 | $275,820,125,322,521,149,440.00 | 2.07% |
| 1973 | $285,919,646,148,175,429,632.00 | 3.66% |
| 1974 | $307,113,896,056,026,562,560.00 | 7.41% |
| 1975 | $320,788,794,692,222,582,784.00 | 4.45% |
| 1976 | $332,805,012,900,847,747,072.00 | 3.75% |
| 1977 | $347,696,277,183,929,188,352.00 | 4.47% |
| 1978 | $359,896,793,217,839,988,736.00 | 3.51% |
| 1979 | $375,672,687,062,292,692,992.00 | 4.38% |
| 1980 | $402,248,433,468,485,009,408.00 | 7.07% |
| 1981 | $421,415,407,298,193,784,832.00 | 4.76% |
| 1982 | $432,473,276,815,333,457,920.00 | 2.62% |
| 1983 | $443,162,550,681,901,858,816.00 | 2.47% |
| 1984 | $451,308,514,559,528,206,336.00 | 1.84% |
| 1985 | $464,541,098,415,038,660,608.00 | 2.93% |
| 1986 | $468,485,071,876,151,836,672.00 | 0.85% |
| 1987 | $489,089,568,743,088,848,896.00 | 4.40% |
| 1988 | $510,320,678,215,997,063,168.00 | 4.34% |
| 1989 | $524,511,610,762,992,943,104.00 | 2.78% |
| 1990 | $548,838,923,700,700,315,648.00 | 4.64% |
| 1991 | $569,295,982,307,408,871,424.00 | 3.73% |
| 1992 | $583,302,617,029,119,049,728.00 | 2.46% |
| 1993 | $591,190,563,951,345,270,784.00 | 1.35% |
| 1994 | $590,047,917,434,574,340,096.00 | -0.19% |
| 1995 | $583,671,212,679,690,452,992.00 | -1.08% |
| 1996 | $582,528,566,162,919,325,696.00 | -0.20% |
| 1997 | $587,615,186,140,803,366,912.00 | 0.87% |
| 1998 | $588,389,237,007,003,353,088.00 | 0.13% |
| 1999 | $580,722,447,475,119,685,632.00 | -1.30% |
| 2000 | $573,129,377,073,350,574,080.00 | -1.31% |
| 2001 | $562,919,277,552,524,853,248.00 | -1.78% |
| 2002 | $548,580,906,745,300,320,256.00 | -2.55% |
| 2003 | $534,647,991,153,704,304,640.00 | -2.54% |
| 2004 | $532,694,434,205,676,404,736.00 | -0.37% |
| 2005 | $528,750,460,744,563,228,672.00 | -0.74% |
| 2006 | $528,345,005,528,934,711,296.00 | -0.08% |
| 2007 | $526,346,848,507,187,625,984.00 | -0.38% |
| 2008 | $525,942,867,674,161,545,216.00 | -0.08% |
| 2009 | $531,123,479,542,941,351,936.00 | 0.99% |
| 2010 | $528,579,800,958,348,689,408.00 | -0.48% |
| 2011 | $540,113,527,460,375,887,872.00 | 2.18% |
| 2012 | $558,486,914,854,404,751,360.00 | 3.40% |
| 2013 | $563,559,159,601,916,674,048.00 | 0.91% |
| 2014 | $564,014,375,230,372,249,600.00 | 0.08% |
| 2015 | $556,885,366,752,672,219,136.00 | -1.26% |
| 2016 | $557,517,139,697,751,425,024.00 | 0.11% |
| 2017 | $555,600,442,314,780,704,768.00 | -0.34% |
| 2018 | $555,788,057,500,921,495,552.00 | 0.03% |
| 2019 | $548,698,857,353,483,255,808.00 | -1.28% |
| 2020 | $522,279,395,503,132,966,912.00 | -4.81% |
| 2021 | $535,168,448,212,311,080,960.00 | 2.47% |
| 2022 | $562,096,940,656,100,245,504.00 | 5.03% |
| 2023 | $577,568,743,088,831,463,424.00 | 2.75% |
| 2024 | $581,567,268,706,229,223,424.00 | 0.69% |
| 2025 | $582,323,258,385,551,065,088.00 | 0.13% |
| 2026 | $590,085,514,190,932,475,904.00 | 1.33%* |
* Not final. See inflation summary for latest details.
** Extended periods of 0% inflation usually indicate incomplete underlying data. This can manifest as a sharp increase in inflation later on.
Raw Consumer Price Index data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for Apparel:
| Year | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| CPI | 15.000 | 15.050 | 15.792 | 18.258 | 23.000 | 34.000 | 43.608 | 34.883 | 27.158 | 27.000 | 26.883 | 26.383 | 26.008 | 25.500 | 25.033 | 24.775 | 24.458 | 22.608 | 19.883 | 18.533 | 20.473 | 20.777 | 21.008 | 21.975 | 21.983 | 21.625 | 21.808 | 22.817 | 26.700 | 27.858 | 29.808 | 31.342 | 34.392 | 39.858 | 42.508 | 40.833 | 40.283 | 43.925 | 43.450 | 43.175 | 43.017 | 42.883 | 43.750 | 44.500 | 44.675 | 45.025 | 45.700 | 46.058 | 46.317 | 46.883 | 47.283 | 47.733 | 49.017 | 51.017 | 53.742 | 56.833 | 59.175 | 61.092 | 62.358 | 64.642 | 69.433 | 72.525 | 75.242 | 78.608 | 81.367 | 84.933 | 90.942 | 95.275 | 97.775 | 100.192 | 102.033 | 105.025 | 105.917 | 110.575 | 115.375 | 118.583 | 124.083 | 128.708 | 131.875 | 133.658 | 133.400 | 131.958 | 131.700 | 132.850 | 133.025 | 131.292 | 129.575 | 127.267 | 124.025 | 120.875 | 120.433 | 119.542 | 119.450 | 118.998 | 118.907 | 120.078 | 119.503 | 122.111 | 126.265 | 127.411 | 127.514 | 125.902 | 126.045 | 125.612 | 125.654 | 124.052 | 118.079 | 120.993 | 127.081 | 130.579 | 131.483 | 131.654 | 133.409 |