$1 in 1840 is worth $0.90 in 1850

Value of $1 from 1840 to 1850

$1 in 1840 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $0.90 in 1850, a difference of $-0.10 over 10 years. The dollar had an average deflation rate of -1.09% per year since 1840, producing a cumulative price change of -10.34%.

This means that prices in 1850 are 10.34% lower than average prices since 1840, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index.

The inflation rate in 1840 was -6.45%. The inflation rate in 1850 was 1.30%. The 1850 inflation rate is lower compared to the average inflation rate of 2.14% per year between 1850 and 2024.


Inflation from 1840 to 1850
Cumulative price change-10.34%
Average inflation rate-1.09%
Converted amount
$1 base
$0.90
Price difference
$1 base
$-0.10
CPI in 18408.700
CPI in 18507.800
Inflation in 1840-6.45%
Inflation in 18501.30%
$1 in 1840$0.90 in 1850

USD inflation since 1840
Annual Rate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI
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Buying power of $1 in 1840

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $1 in 1840 (price index tracking began in 1635).

For example, if you started with $1, you would need to end with $0.90 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

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: 1840-1850
YearDollar ValueInflation Rate
1840$1.00-6.45%
1841$1.000.00%
1842$0.94-5.75%
1843$0.85-9.76%
1844$0.861.35%
1845$0.871.33%
1846$0.891.32%
1847$0.946.49%
1848$0.91-3.66%
1849$0.89-2.53%
1850$0.901.30%
1851$0.89-1.28%
1852$0.890.00%
1853$0.890.00%
1854$0.979.09%
1855$1.003.57%
1856$0.98-2.30%
1857$1.002.35%
1858$0.94-5.75%
1859$0.951.22%
1860$0.950.00%
1861$1.016.02%
1862$1.1614.77%
1863$1.4524.75%
1864$1.8024.60%
1865$1.873.82%
1866$1.83-2.45%
1867$1.70-6.92%
1868$1.63-4.05%
1869$1.56-4.23%
1870$1.51-3.68%
1871$1.40-6.87%
1872$1.400.00%
1873$1.38-1.64%
1874$1.31-5.00%
1875$1.26-3.51%
1876$1.23-2.73%
1877$1.21-1.87%
1878$1.15-4.76%
1879$1.150.00%
1880$1.172.00%
1881$1.170.00%
1882$1.170.00%
1883$1.16-0.98%
1884$1.13-2.97%
1885$1.11-1.02%
1886$1.08-3.09%
1887$1.091.06%
1888$1.090.00%
1889$1.06-3.16%
1890$1.05-1.09%
1891$1.050.00%
1892$1.050.00%
1893$1.03-1.10%
1894$0.99-4.44%
1895$0.97-2.33%
1896$0.970.00%
1897$0.95-1.19%
1898$0.950.00%
1899$0.950.00%
1900$0.971.20%
1901$0.981.19%
1902$0.991.18%
1903$1.012.33%
1904$1.021.14%
1905$1.01-1.12%
1906$1.032.27%
1907$1.084.44%
1908$1.06-2.13%
1909$1.05-1.09%
1910$1.094.40%
1911$1.090.00%
1912$1.112.11%
1913$1.142.06%
1914$1.151.01%
1915$1.161.00%
1916$1.257.92%
1917$1.4717.43%
1918$1.7417.97%
1919$1.9914.57%
1920$2.3015.61%
1921$2.06-10.50%
1922$1.93-6.15%
1923$1.971.79%
1924$1.970.00%
1925$2.012.34%
1926$2.031.14%
1927$2.00-1.69%
1928$1.97-1.72%
1929$1.970.00%
1930$1.92-2.34%
1931$1.75-8.98%
1932$1.57-9.87%
1933$1.49-5.11%
1934$1.543.08%
1935$1.572.24%
1936$1.601.46%
1937$1.663.60%
1938$1.62-2.08%
1939$1.60-1.42%
1940$1.610.72%
1941$1.695.00%
1942$1.8710.88%
1943$1.996.13%
1944$2.021.73%
1945$2.072.27%
1946$2.248.33%
1947$2.5614.36%
1948$2.778.07%
1949$2.74-1.24%
1950$2.771.26%
1951$2.997.88%
1952$3.051.92%
1953$3.070.75%
1954$3.090.75%
1955$3.08-0.37%
1956$3.131.49%
1957$3.233.31%
1958$3.322.85%
1959$3.340.69%
1960$3.401.72%
1961$3.441.01%
1962$3.471.00%
1963$3.521.32%
1964$3.561.31%
1965$3.621.61%
1966$3.722.86%
1967$3.843.09%
1968$4.004.19%
1969$4.225.46%
1970$4.465.72%
1971$4.664.38%
1972$4.803.21%
1973$5.106.22%
1974$5.6711.04%
1975$6.189.13%
1976$6.545.76%
1977$6.976.50%
1978$7.497.59%
1979$8.3411.35%
1980$9.4713.50%
1981$10.4510.32%
1982$11.096.16%
1983$11.453.21%
1984$11.944.32%
1985$12.373.56%
1986$12.601.86%
1987$13.063.65%
1988$13.604.14%
1989$14.254.82%
1990$15.025.40%
1991$15.664.21%
1992$16.133.01%
1993$16.612.99%
1994$17.032.56%
1995$17.522.83%
1996$18.032.95%
1997$18.452.29%
1998$18.741.56%
1999$19.152.21%
2000$19.793.36%
2001$20.362.85%
2002$20.681.58%
2003$21.152.28%
2004$21.712.66%
2005$22.453.39%
2006$23.173.23%
2007$23.832.85%
2008$24.753.84%
2009$24.66-0.36%
2010$25.061.64%
2011$25.863.16%
2012$26.392.07%
2013$26.781.46%
2014$27.211.62%
2015$27.240.12%
2016$27.591.26%
2017$28.172.13%
2018$28.882.49%
2019$29.391.76%
2020$29.751.23%
2021$31.154.70%
2022$33.648.00%
2023$35.024.12%
2024$35.671.85%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
Click to show 4 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1840 amounts in 1850 dollars, based on the -10.34% change in prices:

Conversion: 1840 dollars in 1850
Initial valueEquivalent value
$1 dollar in 1840$0.90 dollars in 1850
$5 dollars in 1840$4.48 dollars in 1850
$10 dollars in 1840$8.97 dollars in 1850
$50 dollars in 1840$44.83 dollars in 1850
$100 dollars in 1840$89.66 dollars in 1850
$500 dollars in 1840$448.28 dollars in 1850
$1,000 dollars in 1840$896.55 dollars in 1850
$5,000 dollars in 1840$4,482.76 dollars in 1850
$10,000 dollars in 1840$8,965.52 dollars in 1850
$50,000 dollars in 1840$44,827.59 dollars in 1850
$100,000 dollars in 1840$89,655.17 dollars in 1850
$500,000 dollars in 1840$448,275.86 dollars in 1850
$1,000,000 dollars in 1840$896,551.72 dollars in 1850

Inflation by Country

Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £1.00 in 1840 would be equivalent to £0.76 in 1850, an absolute change of £-0.24 and a cumulative change of -24.32%.

Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $-0.10 and total percent change of -10.34%.


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 1840 and 1850.

Compare these values to the overall average of -1.09% per year:

CategoryAvg Inflation (%)Total Inflation (%)$1 in 1840 → 1850
Food and beverages0.000.001.00
Housing0.000.001.00
Apparel0.000.001.00
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 1840. This table and charts use the earliest available data for each category.



How to calculate inflation rate for $1, 1840 to 1850

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1840 and 1850:

CPI in 1850 CPI in 1840
×
1840 USD value
=
1850 USD value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 8.7 in the year 1840 and 7.8 in 1850:

7.88.7
×
$1
=
$0.90

$1 in 1840 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $0.90 in 1850.

To get the total inflation rate for the 10 years between 1840 and 1850, we use the following formula:

CPI in 1850 - CPI in 1840CPI in 1840
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (10 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

7.8 - 8.78.7
×
100
=
-10%

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 1840 → 1850 | Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 28 Mar. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1840?amount=1&endYear=1850.

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 1840 to 1850
Cumulative price change-10.34%
Average inflation rate-1.09%
Converted amount
$1 base
$0.90
Price difference
$1 base
$-0.10
CPI in 18408.700
CPI in 18507.800
Inflation in 1840-6.45%
Inflation in 18501.30%
$1 in 1840$0.90 in 1850