$100 in 1915 is worth $169 in 1928,
because prices increased 69.3% over that period, an average of
4.13% a year.
$100 in 1915 has
the same buying power as
$169
in 1928
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
69.3%
Average inflation rate
4.13% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$169
Price difference ($100 base)
$69.31
CPI in 1915
10.1
CPI in 1928
17.1
Inflation in 1915
1.00%
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
$100 in 1915 → 1928
$169
$100 in 1928 → 1915
$59.06
What happened to prices between 1915 and 1928
Between 1915 and 1928, the Consumer Price Index went from 10.1 to 17.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 69.3%, which works out to an average of
4.13% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1915 bought what
$0.59 buys in 1928: the 1915 dollar
lost 40.9% of its purchasing power over
these 13 years.
Consumer prices rose 1.0% in 1915, the second straight year of near-flat
inflation before the wartime price surges of 1916 through 1918. The year’s
defining event had nothing to do with prices directly: a German submarine
sank the British liner Lusitania off the Irish coast on May 7, killing 128
Americans and hardening U.S. opinion against Germany two years before the
country entered the war. Economically, 1915 was a turning point of a
different kind. A recession that had dragged on since 1913 began lifting as
Britain and France placed growing orders for steel, munitions, and other war
materiel with American manufacturers, and U.S. exports to the Allied powers
climbed sharply through the year. That demand would keep building through
1916, eventually pulling prices up with it. On the regulatory
side, the Federal Trade Commission opened for business in March, taking on
enforcement of the Clayton Antitrust Act that Congress had passed the
previous fall. A first-class stamp still cost 2 cents, unchanged since 1885
and still two years from its first wartime increase.
Every 1915 amount converts to 1928 at the same ratio, 1.69: $1,000 becomes
$1,693, and $10,000 becomes $16,931.
Amount in 1915
Value in 1928
$1.00
$1.69
$5.00
$8.47
$10.00
$16.93
$20.00
$33.86
$50.00
$84.65
$100
$169
$500
$847
$1,000
$1,693
$5,000
$8,465
$10,000
$16,931
$100,000
$169,307
$1,000,000
$1,693,069
Inflation by spending category, 1915–1928
Between 1915 and 1928, apparel rose the most, up 63.4%, while food rose the least, up 63.0%, against 69.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1915
spending costs in 1928, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1915 →
All items (CPI-U)
4.13%
$169
Apparel
3.85%
$163
Food
3.83%
$163
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1915: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1915 to 1928
Prices climbed fastest in the 1910s, averaging 14.64% a year, and fell in the 1920s (1.9% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1915–1928 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1915, at end
1915–1920
14.64%
98.0%
$198
1920–1928
-1.94%
-14.5%
$169
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1915
$100 from 1915 had already become $177 by
1921, on its way to $169 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 1915 had the buying
power of $169; 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 1915 to 1928: $100 is worth $169 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1915-to-1928/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1915 to 1928. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1915-to-1928/