$1,000 in 1913 is worth $34,077 today (CPI)
$34,077
Updated June 1, 2026 · BLS / FRED (CPIAUCSL)
$1,000 in 1913 is worth $34,076.73 in today's dollars, adjusted by the official U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), which rose 3,308% since then. BLS/FRED data through June 1, 2026.
A thousand dollars in 1913 was a small fortune for the time — roughly a year's earnings for a typical worker, well beyond ordinary household savings. The larger the sum, the larger the absolute gap the adjustment uncovers across a century of rising prices. What you see is not investment growth but the cumulative loss of purchasing power: the today's-dollars figure needed to match what $1,000 could once command.
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Year by year
| Year | Equivalent value |
|---|---|
| 1920 | $1,980 |
| 1930 | $1,643 |
| 1940 | $1,439 |
| 1950 | $2,551 |
| 1960 | $3,041 |
| 1970 | $4,061 |
| 1980 | $8,806 |
| 1990 | $13,653 |
| 2000 | $17,755 |
| 2010 | $22,365 |
| 2020 | $26,579 |
| 2026 | $34,077 |
Selected milestones; the math uses every month of the official series.
Put differently: what cost $1,000 in 1913 costs $34,076.73 today. A dollar from 1913 buys only 3% of what it bought then — prices multiplied 34.1× over the period.
1913 is where the official record begins: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking consumer prices the same year the Federal Reserve was created.
Frequently asked questions
How is the value of $1,000 from 1913 calculated?
We divide today's CPI-U index level by the 1913 level, as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The cumulative change is 3,308% — a factor of 34.08.
Which inflation measure is used?
CPI-U, the broadest official U.S. consumer price index (all urban consumers), the same series used by the BLS inflation calculator.
Does this include investment returns?
No. This is pure purchasing-power adjustment. Money invested in stocks or bonds over the same period would have grown far more than inflation.
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Descriptive, educational content computed from official public data. Not investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.