$1 in 2019 had the same buying power as $1.32 in September 2026. Prices are 32% higher than in 2019, an average of 3.9% a year, based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A dollar in September 2026 buys what 76 cents bought in 2019.
Convert any amount from 2019 in the Inflation Calculator
2019 dollars in today's money
| In 2019 | In September 2026 |
|---|---|
| $1.00 | $1.32 |
| $5.00 | $6.59 |
| $10.00 | $13.18 |
| $20.00 | $26.36 |
| $50.00 | $65.90 |
| $100.00 | $132 |
| $500.00 | $659 |
| $1,000 | $1,318 |
| $10,000 | $13,179 |
What $100 from 2019 cost in the years since
Annual averages of CPI-U; 2026 uses September 2026. Source: BLS via FRED.
Inflation in 2019
Prices rose 1.8% in 2019, comparing its average CPI-U with 2018's. That ranks 71st of the 112 years since 1914, from the highest inflation to the lowest.
Wages in 2019 and today
- The federal minimum wage was $7.25 an hour in 2019. $7.25 then is worth $9.56 in today's dollars; the federal minimum has been $7.25 since July 2009.
- Production and nonsupervisory workers earned an average of $23.51 an hour in 2019, or $30.98 in today's dollars. In September 2026 they averaged $32.54, so their pay buys 5.0% more than in 2019.
Prices in 2019 and today
U.S. average retail prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Adjusted for inflation, none of these 6 items cost less today than they did in 2019, and the last column shows how long an average worker had to work to buy each one.
| Item | 2019 | In today's dollars | September 2026 | Minutes of work, then → now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs, grade A large (per dozen) | $1.40 | $1.84 | $2.27 | 3.6 → 4.2 |
| White bread (per pound) | $1.30 | $1.71 | $1.83 | 3.3 → 3.4 |
| Whole milk (per gallon) | $3.04 | $4.00 | $4.11 | 7.7 → 7.6 |
| Ground beef (per pound) | $3.81 | $5.02 | $6.79 | 9.7 → 13 |
| Regular gasoline (per gallon) | $2.64 | $3.47 | $4.48 | 6.7 → 8.3 |
| Electricity (per kWh) | $0.136 | $0.179 | $0.196 | 0.3 → 0.4 |
What $100 from 2019 was worth over the years
How this is calculated
Divide today's price index by the index for 2019, then multiply by the amount:
$100 × (336.94 ÷ 255.657) = $131.79
2019's index is the average of its monthly CPI-U values; today's is the latest month, September 2026. Other calculators can differ slightly if they use a different month or index. More in our methodology.
Data: CPI-U through September 2026. Next BLS release: November 10, 2026. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED; prices and wages from BLS average price data and Current Employment Statistics; minimum wage from the U.S. Department of Labor.