Inflation by president: US prices under every president since 1913
How much did prices rise under each president? Pick any president since Woodrow Wilson to see the change in the official US consumer price index (CPI-U) from the month he took office to the month he left, the average yearly rate, his rank among the 19 completed presidencies and the highest and lowest annual inflation in his time in office. You can also compare two presidents at the same point in office. Data run to September 2026.
Updated 4 November 2026. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). Monthly chart and full data: US inflation tracker. Key figures: US inflation statistics. What a past dollar is worth today: US inflation calculator.
So far under Donald Trump (second term), consumer prices have risen 6.1%: the CPI-U went from 317.7 in January 2025, the month he took office, to 336.9 in September 2026, the latest month published (20 months). That is an average rise of 3.6% a year. Of the 20 presidencies since 1913 that reached 20 months in office, that is the 9th largest price rise at the same point (the average is +6.0%). Annual inflation so far in his time in office has ranged from 2.3% in the 12 months to April 2025 to 4.2% in the 12 months to May 2026. Something that cost $100 when he took office costs $106.07 now.
Compare two presidents at the same point in office
48 months after taking office, consumer prices had risen 21.4% under Joe Biden, and had risen 7.7% under Donald Trump (first term). The two periods run from January 2021 to January 2025 and from January 2017 to January 2021. The change in prices was 13.7 percentage points higher under Joe Biden. Average yearly rates: 5.0% and 1.9%. Of the 16 presidencies with a figure at 48 months, they rank 4th and 13th (1st = the largest price rise).
Key figures
- So far under Donald Trump (second term), consumer prices have risen 6.1%: the CPI-U went from 317.7 in January 2025, the month he took office, to 336.9 in September 2026, the latest month published (20 months). That is an average rise of 3.6% a year. Of the 20 presidencies since 1913 that reached 20 months in office, that is the 9th largest price rise at the same point (the average is +6.0%). #
- The highest average inflation of any completed presidency since 1913 was under Jimmy Carter: 10.4% a year (January 1977 to January 1981). Since 1953 the next highest was under Gerald Ford, at 6.7% a year. #
- Prices fell under Herbert Hoover, by an average of 7.2% a year (March 1929 to March 1933, 25.9% in total). Since 1953 the lowest average inflation was under John F. Kennedy, at 1.2% a year. #
- The highest annual inflation rate since 1913 was 23.7% in the 12 months to June 1920, under Woodrow Wilson. Since 1953 the peak was 14.8% in the 12 months to March 1980, under Jimmy Carter. #
- In the latest month published, September 2026, consumer prices were 3.7% higher than a year earlier. #
- Since Woodrow Wilson took office in March 1913, consumer prices have risen to 34.4 times their level then: something that cost $1 in March 1913 costs $34.38 in September 2026. #
Inflation under each president since 1913
Change in the CPI-U from the month each president took office to the month he left; the rank is by average yearly rate among the 19 completed presidencies (1st = highest inflation). Each row has its own link, for example #president-carter.
| President | From | To | Months | CPI-U start | CPI-U end | Total change | Average a year | Rank | Peak annual inflation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodrow Wilson | March 1913 | March 1921 | 96 | 9.8 | 18.3 | +86.7% | +8.1% | 2nd | +23.7% (June 1920) |
| Warren G. Harding | March 1921 | August 1923 | 29 | 18.3 | 17.1 | −6.6% | −2.8% | 18th | +3.0% (August 1923) |
| Calvin Coolidge | August 1923 | March 1929 | 67 | 17.1 | 17.0 | −0.6% | −0.1% | 17th | +4.7% (November 1925) |
| Herbert Hoover | March 1929 | March 1933 | 48 | 17.0 | 12.6 | −25.9% | −7.2% | 19th | +1.2% (July 1929) |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | March 1933 | April 1945 | 145 | 12.6 | 17.8 | +41.3% | +2.9% | 9th | +13.2% (May 1942) |
| Harry S. Truman | April 1945 | January 1953 | 93 | 17.8 | 26.6 | +49.4% | +5.3% | 5th | +19.7% (March 1947) |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | January 1953 | January 1961 | 96 | 26.6 | 29.8 | +12.0% | +1.4% | 15th | +3.7% (March 1957) |
| John F. Kennedy | January 1961 | November 1963 | 34 | 29.8 | 30.8 | +3.4% | +1.2% | 16th | +1.4% (February 1961) |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | November 1963 | January 1969 | 62 | 30.8 | 35.6 | +15.6% | +2.8% | 10th | +4.7% (October 1968) |
| Richard Nixon | January 1969 | August 1974 | 67 | 35.6 | 50.0 | +40.4% | +6.3% | 4th | +11.5% (July 1974) |
| Gerald Ford | August 1974 | January 1977 | 29 | 50.0 | 58.5 | +17.0% | +6.7% | 3rd | +12.3% (December 1974) |
| Jimmy Carter | January 1977 | January 1981 | 48 | 58.5 | 87.0 | +48.7% | +10.4% | 1st | +14.8% (March 1980) |
| Ronald Reagan | January 1981 | January 1989 | 96 | 87.0 | 121.1 | +39.2% | +4.2% | 7th | +11.4% (February 1981) |
| George H. W. Bush | January 1989 | January 1993 | 48 | 121.1 | 142.6 | +17.8% | +4.2% | 8th | +6.3% (October 1990) |
| Bill Clinton | January 1993 | January 2001 | 96 | 142.6 | 175.1 | +22.8% | +2.6% | 11th | +3.8% (March 2000) |
| George W. Bush | January 2001 | January 2009 | 96 | 175.1 | 211.1 | +20.6% | +2.4% | 12th | +5.6% (July 2008) |
| Barack Obama | January 2009 | January 2017 | 96 | 211.1 | 242.8 | +15.0% | +1.8% | 14th | +3.9% (September 2011) |
| Donald Trump (first term) | January 2017 | January 2021 | 48 | 242.8 | 261.6 | +7.7% | +1.9% | 13th | +2.9% (July 2018) |
| Joe Biden | January 2021 | January 2025 | 48 | 261.6 | 317.7 | +21.4% | +5.0% | 6th | +9.1% (June 2022) |
| Donald Trump (second term) (so far) | January 2025 | September 2026 | 20 | 317.7 | 336.9 | +6.1% | +3.6% | – | +4.2% (May 2026) |
Prices 20 months into each presidency
Donald Trump (second term) has been in office for 20 months in the latest data. This table shows how much prices had risen at the same point for every president who reached it, from largest to smallest rise.
| Rank | President | Up to | Change in prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Harry S. Truman | December 1946 | +20.8% |
| 2nd | Jimmy Carter | September 1978 | +13.7% |
| 3rd | Joe Biden | September 2022 | +13.5% |
| 4th | Ronald Reagan | September 1982 | +12.5% |
| 5th | Gerald Ford | April 1976 | +12.2% |
| 6th | Richard Nixon | September 1970 | +10.1% |
| 7th | George H. W. Bush | September 1990 | +9.6% |
| 8th | Franklin D. Roosevelt | November 1934 | +7.1% |
| 9th | Donald Trump (second term) (current) | September 2026 | +6.1% |
| 10th | Bill Clinton | September 1994 | +4.8% |
| 11th | Woodrow Wilson | November 1914 | +4.1% |
| 12th | Donald Trump (first term) | September 2018 | +4.0% |
| 13th | Barack Obama | September 2010 | +3.5% |
| 14th | George W. Bush | September 2002 | +3.4% |
| 15th | Lyndon B. Johnson | July 1965 | +2.6% |
| 16th | John F. Kennedy | September 1962 | +2.0% |
| 17th | Dwight D. Eisenhower | September 1954 | +0.8% |
| 18th | Calvin Coolidge | April 1925 | +0.6% |
| 19th | Herbert Hoover | November 1930 | −3.5% |
| 20th | Warren G. Harding | November 1922 | −8.2% |
Worked example
Under Jimmy Carter (January 1977 to January 1981, 48 months), consumer prices rose 48.7%: the CPI-U went from 58.5 to 87.0. That is an average rise of 10.4% a year, the highest of the 19 completed presidencies since 1913. Annual inflation in his time in office ranged from 5.9% in the 12 months to February 1977 to 14.8% in the 12 months to March 1980. Something that cost $100 when he took office cost $148.72 when he left.
Download the data
Monthly CPI-U since January 1913 with the president in office (CSV): index value, 12-month change, president, months in office and the change since he took office, for every month. BLS data are in the public domain; the file is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with credit to ClarionBrief and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, linking to this page.
Cite or link to this tool
Journalists, teachers, students and researchers are welcome to use and link to these figures. Each key figure and table row has its own link, such as #highest-inflation or #president-biden.
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How the figures are calculated
Each presidency runs from the month the president took office to the month he left, and the change is the ratio of the CPI-U values for those two months (all items, US city average, before seasonal adjustment, 1982 to 1984 = 100). The handover month counts as the end of one presidency and the start of the next. Until 1933 presidents took office in March; since 1937 they take office in January. Presidents who died or resigned in office are measured to the month they left, and their successors from that month. Donald Trump's two non-consecutive terms are shown separately. The average yearly rate is the compound rate over the months in office. The highest and lowest annual inflation are the 12-month changes for the months after he took office up to the month he left.
A president does not set prices. Inflation reflects wars, oil shocks, pandemics, interest rates set by the Federal Reserve and decisions by earlier administrations and Congress, so these figures describe what happened while each president was in office, not who caused it. No index value was published for October 2025, when price collection stopped during the federal government shutdown. Monthly values from 1913 to 1998 are from the BLS series CUUR0000SA0; from January 1999 the tool uses the same data as the US inflation tracker. Figures are updated daily and change when BLS publishes a new month. Calculations are by ClarionBrief and can differ from other sources by a rounding difference.