Value of $20,000 from 1878 to 2024
$20,000 in 1878 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $631,328 today, an increase of $611,328.00 over 146 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.39% per year between 1878 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 3,056.64%.
This means that today's prices are 31.57 times as high as average prices since 1878, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index. A dollar today only buys 3.168% of what it could buy back then.
The inflation rate in 1878 was -4.76%. The current inflation rate compared to the end of last year is now 2.60%. If this number holds, $20,000 today will be equivalent in buying power to $20,519.58 next year. The current inflation rate page gives more detail on the latest inflation rates.
Contents
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| Cumulative price change | 3,056.64% |
| Average inflation rate | 2.39% |
| Converted amount $20,000 base | $631,328 |
| Price difference $20,000 base | $611,328.00 |
| CPI in 1878 | 10.000 |
| CPI in 2024 | 315.664 |
| Inflation in 1878 | -4.76% |
| Inflation in 2024 | 2.60% |
| $20,000 in 1878 | $631,328 in 2024 |
Buying power of $20,000 in 1878
This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $20,000 in 1878 (price index tracking began in 1635).
For example, if you started with $20,000, you would need to end with $631,328 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").
When $20,000 is equivalent to $631,328 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 1878 dollars, the chart below shows how $20,000 is worth less over 146 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:
This conversion table shows various other 1878 amounts in today's dollars, based on the 3,056.64% change in prices:
| Initial value | Equivalent value |
|---|---|
| $1 dollar in 1878 | $31.57 dollars today |
| $5 dollars in 1878 | $157.83 dollars today |
| $10 dollars in 1878 | $315.66 dollars today |
| $50 dollars in 1878 | $1,578.32 dollars today |
| $100 dollars in 1878 | $3,156.64 dollars today |
| $500 dollars in 1878 | $15,783.20 dollars today |
| $1,000 dollars in 1878 | $31,566.40 dollars today |
| $5,000 dollars in 1878 | $157,832.00 dollars today |
| $10,000 dollars in 1878 | $315,664.00 dollars today |
| $50,000 dollars in 1878 | $1,578,320.00 dollars today |
| $100,000 dollars in 1878 | $3,156,640.00 dollars today |
| $500,000 dollars in 1878 | $15,783,200.00 dollars today |
| $1,000,000 dollars in 1878 | $31,566,400.00 dollars today |
Inflation by Country
Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £20,000.00 in 1878 would be equivalent to £2,983,444.78 in 2024, an absolute change of £2,963,444.78 and a cumulative change of 14,817.22%.
Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $611,328.00 and total percent change of 3,056.64%.
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 1878 and 2024.
Compare these values to the overall average of 2.39% per year:
| Category | Avg Inflation (%) | Total Inflation (%) | $20,000 in 1878 → 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food and beverages | 4.00 | 30,559.47 | 6,131,893.17 |
| Housing | 4.27 | 44,543.88 | 8,928,776.64 |
| Apparel | 1.99 | 1,664.01 | 352,802.06 |
| Transportation | 3.37 | 12,531.70 | 2,526,339.98 |
| Medical care | 4.61 | 71,890.58 | 14,398,116.61 |
| Recreation | 1.37 | 624.25 | 144,850.52 |
| Education and communication | 1.75 | 1,150.19 | 250,037.78 |
| Other goods and services | 4.97 | 119,648.74 | 23,949,747.95 |
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 1878. This table and charts use the earliest available data for each category.
How to calculate inflation rate for $20,000 since 1878
Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1878 and today:
CPI today CPI in 1878
×
1878 USD value
=
Today's value
Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 10 in the year 1878 and 315.664 in 2024:
315.66410
×
$20,000
=
$631,328
$20,000 in 1878 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $631,328 in 2024.
To get the total inflation rate for the 146 years between 1878 and 2024, we use the following formula:
CPI in 2024 - CPI in 1878CPI in 1878
×
100
=
Cumulative inflation rate (146 years)
Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:
315.664 - 1010
×
100
=
3,057%
Comparison to S&P 500 Index
The average inflation rate of 2.39% has a compounding effect between 1878 and 2024. As noted above, this yearly inflation rate compounds to produce an overall price difference of 3,056.64% over 146 years.
To help put this inflation into perspective, if we had invested $20,000 in the S&P 500 index in 1878, our investment would be nominally worth approximately $13,900,289,465.10 in 2024. This is a return on investment of 69,501,347.33%, with an absolute return of $13,900,269,465.10 on top of the original $20,000.
These numbers are not inflation adjusted, so they are considered nominal. In order to evaluate the real return on our investment, we must calculate the return with inflation taken into account.
The compounding effect of inflation would account for 96.83% of returns ($13,459,938,665.99) during this period. This means the inflation-adjusted real return of our $20,000 investment is $440,330,799.11. You may also want to account for capital gains tax, which would take your real return down to around $374,281,179 for most people.
| Original Amount | Final Amount | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal | $20,000 | $13,900,289,465.10 | 69,501,347.33% |
| Real Inflation Adjusted | $20,000 | $440,350,799.11 | 2,201,654.00% |
Information displayed above may differ slightly from other S&P 500 calculators. Minor discrepancies can occur because we use the latest CPI data for inflation, annualized inflation numbers for previous years, and we compute S&P price and dividends from January of 1878 to latest available data for 2024 using average monthly close price.
For more details on the S&P 500 between 1878 and 2024, see the stock market returns calculator.
Data source & citation
Raw data for these calculations comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (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: “$20,000 in 1878 → 2024 | Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 18 Nov. 2024, https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1878?amount=20000.
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.
| Cumulative price change | 3,056.64% |
| Average inflation rate | 2.39% |
| Converted amount $20,000 base | $631,328 |
| Price difference $20,000 base | $611,328.00 |
| CPI in 1878 | 10.000 |
| CPI in 2024 | 315.664 |
| Inflation in 1878 | -4.76% |
| Inflation in 2024 | 2.60% |
| $20,000 in 1878 | $631,328 in 2024 |