$100 in 1914 is worth $171 in 1928,
because prices increased 71.0% over that period, an average of
3.91% a year.
$100 in 1914 has
the same buying power as
$171
in 1928
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
71.0%
Average inflation rate
3.91% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$171
Price difference ($100 base)
$71.00
CPI in 1914
10
CPI in 1928
17.1
Inflation in 1914
1.01%
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
$100 in 1914 → 1928
$171
$100 in 1928 → 1914
$58.48
What happened to prices between 1914 and 1928
Between 1914 and 1928, the Consumer Price Index went from 10 to 17.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 71.0%, which works out to an average of
3.91% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1914 bought what
$0.58 buys in 1928: the 1914 dollar
lost 41.5% of its purchasing power over
these 14 years.
Consumer prices barely moved in 1914, rising just 1.0% for the year, even as
the country’s financial plumbing was rebuilt from the ground up. The Federal
Reserve Banks, created by the Federal Reserve Act signed the previous
December, opened their doors on November 16, giving the U.S. a central bank
for the first time since the 1830s. Weeks earlier, the outbreak of war in
Europe had spooked the New York Stock Exchange into closing for more than
four months, the longest shutdown in its history, as officials worried
European investors would dump American securities for gold. Domestically, the
bigger story was labor: Henry Ford’s decision to pay factory workers $5 a
day, announced in January, roughly doubled wages on his assembly lines and
pushed other manufacturers to raise pay just to keep workers from leaving. A
first-class stamp still cost 2 cents, a price that had held since 1885 and
would keep holding for three more years, even as the war reshaping Europe
began pulling the American economy toward the sustained wartime inflation of
1917.
Every 1914 amount converts to 1928 at the same ratio, 1.71: $1,000 becomes
$1,710, and $10,000 becomes $17,100.
Amount in 1914
Value in 1928
$1.00
$1.71
$5.00
$8.55
$10.00
$17.10
$20.00
$34.20
$50.00
$85.50
$100
$171
$500
$855
$1,000
$1,710
$5,000
$8,550
$10,000
$17,100
$100,000
$171,000
$1,000,000
$1,710,000
Inflation by spending category, 1914–1928
Between 1914 and 1928, apparel rose the most, up 66.7%, while food rose the least, up 59.8%, against 71.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1914
spending costs in 1928, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1914 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.91%
$171
Apparel
3.72%
$167
Food
3.41%
$160
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1914: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1914 to 1928
Prices climbed fastest in the 1910s, averaging 12.25% a year, and fell in the 1920s (1.9% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1914–1928 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1914, at end
1914–1920
12.25%
100.0%
$200
1920–1928
-1.94%
-14.5%
$171
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1914
$100 from 1914 had already become $179 by
1921, on its way to $171 in 1928; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 18.0% in 1918, and prices fell 10.5% in 1921, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 1928, prices fell 1.7% and $100 from 1914 had the buying
power of $171; the year's average CPI of 17.1 is the level
behind every 1928 figure on this page.
Consumer prices fell 1.7% in 1928, the second straight year of mild decline
even as the stock market climbed sharply, a widening gap between asset
prices and the cost of living that later economists pointed to as an early
warning sign. The Federal Reserve tightened policy repeatedly over the year,
raising its discount rate in an effort to slow the flood of borrowed money
pouring into stock purchases without derailing the broader economy, a
balancing act it ultimately failed to manage. Herbert Hoover won the
presidential election that November, defeating Democrat Al Smith on a
platform built around continuing the prosperity of the Coolidge years; few
voters or policymakers anticipated how quickly that prosperity would end.
First-class postage remained at 2 cents, a price that had now held for nine
straight years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1914 to 1928: $100 is worth $171 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1914-to-1928/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1914 to 1928. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1914-to-1928/