$100 in 1862 is worth $3,123.69 today

The U.S. dollar has lost 97% its value since 1862

Updated: December 11, 2024

$100 in 1862 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,123.69 today, an increase of $3,023.69 over 163 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.13% per year between 1862 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 3,023.69%.

This means that today's prices are 31.24 times as high as average prices since 1862, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index. A dollar today only buys 3.201% of what it could buy back then.

The inflation rate in 1862 was 14.77%. The current inflation rate compared to the end of last year is now 2.75%. If this number holds, $100 today will be equivalent in buying power to $102.75 next year. The current inflation rate page gives more detail on the latest inflation rates.


Inflation from 1862 to 2025
Cumulative price change3,023.69%
Average inflation rate2.13%
Converted amount
$100 base
$3,123.69
Price difference
$100 base
$3,023.69
CPI in 186210.100
CPI in 2025315.493
Inflation in 186214.77%
Inflation in 20252.75%
$100 in 1862$3,123.69 in 2025

USD inflation since 1862
Annual Rate, the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI
Download

Buying power of $100 in 1862

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $100 in 1862 (price index tracking began in 1635).

For example, if you started with $100, you would need to end with $3,123.69 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When $100 is equivalent to $3,123.69 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 1862 dollars, the chart below shows how $100 is worth less over 163 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: 1862-2025
YearDollar ValueInflation Rate
1862$100.0014.77%
1863$124.7524.75%
1864$155.4524.60%
1865$161.393.82%
1866$157.43-2.45%
1867$146.53-6.92%
1868$140.59-4.05%
1869$134.65-4.23%
1870$129.70-3.68%
1871$120.79-6.87%
1872$120.790.00%
1873$118.81-1.64%
1874$112.87-5.00%
1875$108.91-3.51%
1876$105.94-2.73%
1877$103.96-1.87%
1878$99.01-4.76%
1879$99.010.00%
1880$100.992.00%
1881$100.990.00%
1882$100.990.00%
1883$100.00-0.98%
1884$97.03-2.97%
1885$96.04-1.02%
1886$93.07-3.09%
1887$94.061.06%
1888$94.060.00%
1889$91.09-3.16%
1890$90.10-1.09%
1891$90.100.00%
1892$90.100.00%
1893$89.11-1.10%
1894$85.15-4.44%
1895$83.17-2.33%
1896$83.170.00%
1897$82.18-1.19%
1898$82.180.00%
1899$82.180.00%
1900$83.171.20%
1901$84.161.19%
1902$85.151.18%
1903$87.132.33%
1904$88.121.14%
1905$87.13-1.12%
1906$89.112.27%
1907$93.074.44%
1908$91.09-2.13%
1909$90.10-1.09%
1910$94.064.40%
1911$94.060.00%
1912$96.042.11%
1913$98.022.06%
1914$99.011.01%
1915$100.001.00%
1916$107.927.92%
1917$126.7317.43%
1918$149.5017.97%
1919$171.2914.57%
1920$198.0215.61%
1921$177.23-10.50%
1922$166.34-6.15%
1923$169.311.79%
1924$169.310.00%
1925$173.272.34%
1926$175.251.14%
1927$172.28-1.69%
1928$169.31-1.72%
1929$169.310.00%
1930$165.35-2.34%
1931$150.50-8.98%
1932$135.64-9.87%
1933$128.71-5.11%
1934$132.673.08%
1935$135.642.24%
1936$137.621.46%
1937$142.573.60%
1938$139.60-2.08%
1939$137.62-1.42%
1940$138.610.72%
1941$145.545.00%
1942$161.3910.88%
1943$171.296.13%
1944$174.261.73%
1945$178.222.27%
1946$193.078.33%
1947$220.7914.36%
1948$238.618.07%
1949$235.64-1.24%
1950$238.611.26%
1951$257.437.88%
1952$262.381.92%
1953$264.360.75%
1954$266.340.75%
1955$265.35-0.37%
1956$269.311.49%
1957$278.223.31%
1958$286.142.85%
1959$288.120.69%
1960$293.071.72%
1961$296.041.01%
1962$299.011.00%
1963$302.971.32%
1964$306.931.31%
1965$311.881.61%
1966$320.792.86%
1967$330.693.09%
1968$344.554.19%
1969$363.375.46%
1970$384.165.72%
1971$400.994.38%
1972$413.863.21%
1973$439.606.22%
1974$488.1211.04%
1975$532.679.13%
1976$563.375.76%
1977$600.006.50%
1978$645.547.59%
1979$718.8111.35%
1980$815.8413.50%
1981$900.0010.32%
1982$955.456.16%
1983$986.143.21%
1984$1,028.714.32%
1985$1,065.353.56%
1986$1,085.151.86%
1987$1,124.753.65%
1988$1,171.294.14%
1989$1,227.724.82%
1990$1,294.065.40%
1991$1,348.514.21%
1992$1,389.113.01%
1993$1,430.692.99%
1994$1,467.332.56%
1995$1,508.912.83%
1996$1,553.472.95%
1997$1,589.112.29%
1998$1,613.861.56%
1999$1,649.502.21%
2000$1,704.953.36%
2001$1,753.472.85%
2002$1,781.191.58%
2003$1,821.782.28%
2004$1,870.302.66%
2005$1,933.663.39%
2006$1,996.043.23%
2007$2,052.892.85%
2008$2,131.713.84%
2009$2,124.13-0.36%
2010$2,158.971.64%
2011$2,227.123.16%
2012$2,273.212.07%
2013$2,306.501.46%
2014$2,343.921.62%
2015$2,346.700.12%
2016$2,376.311.26%
2017$2,426.932.13%
2018$2,487.432.49%
2019$2,531.261.76%
2020$2,562.491.23%
2021$2,682.874.70%
2022$2,897.588.00%
2023$3,016.854.12%
2024$3,104.112.89%
2025$3,123.690.63%*
* Compared to previous annual rate. Not final. See inflation summary for latest 12-month trailing value.
Click to show 157 more rows

This conversion table shows various other 1862 amounts in today's dollars, based on the 3,023.69% change in prices:

Conversion: 1862 dollars today
Initial valueEquivalent value
$1 dollar in 1862$31.24 dollars today
$5 dollars in 1862$156.18 dollars today
$10 dollars in 1862$312.37 dollars today
$50 dollars in 1862$1,561.85 dollars today
$100 dollars in 1862$3,123.69 dollars today
$500 dollars in 1862$15,618.47 dollars today
$1,000 dollars in 1862$31,236.93 dollars today
$5,000 dollars in 1862$156,184.65 dollars today
$10,000 dollars in 1862$312,369.31 dollars today
$50,000 dollars in 1862$1,561,846.53 dollars today
$100,000 dollars in 1862$3,123,693.07 dollars today
$500,000 dollars in 1862$15,618,465.35 dollars today
$1,000,000 dollars in 1862$31,236,930.69 dollars today

Inflation by Country

Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £100.00 in 1862 would be equivalent to £15,538.46 in 2025, an absolute change of £15,438.46 and a cumulative change of 15,438.46%.

Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $3,023.69 and total percent change of 3,023.69%.


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 1862 and 2025.

Compare these values to the overall average of 2.13% per year:

CategoryAvg Inflation (%)Total Inflation (%)$100 in 1862 → 2025
Food and beverages4.0059,767.6159,867.61
Housing4.2791,081.0691,181.06
Apparel1.982,357.662,457.66
Transportation3.3722,052.0822,152.08
Medical care4.61155,044.91155,144.91
Recreation1.37812.73912.73
Education and communication1.741,575.821,675.82
Other goods and services4.98274,363.65274,463.65

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 1862. This table and charts use the earliest available data for each category.



How to calculate inflation rate for $100 since 1862

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1862 and today:

CPI today CPI in 1862
×
1862 USD value
=
Today's value

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 10.1 in the year 1862 and 315.493 in 2025:

315.49310.1
×
$100
=
$3,123.69

$100 in 1862 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $3,123.69 in 2025.

To get the total inflation rate for the 163 years between 1862 and 2025, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2025 - CPI in 1862CPI in 1862
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (163 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

315.493 - 10.110.1
×
100
=
3,024%

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: “Value of 1862 dollars today | Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 24 Dec. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1862.

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 1862 to 2025
Cumulative price change3,023.69%
Average inflation rate2.13%
Converted amount
$100 base
$3,123.69
Price difference
$100 base
$3,023.69
CPI in 186210.100
CPI in 2025315.493
Inflation in 186214.77%
Inflation in 20252.75%
$100 in 1862$3,123.69 in 2025