$100 in 1915 is worth $2,307 in 2013,
because prices increased 2206.5% over that period, an average of
3.25% a year.
$100 in 1915 has
the same buying power as
$2,307
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
2206.5%
Average inflation rate
3.25% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$2,307
Price difference ($100 base)
$2,207
CPI in 1915
10.1
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1915
1.00%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1915 → 2013
$2,307
$100 in 2013 → 1915
$4.34
What happened to prices between 1915 and 2013
Between 1915 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 10.1 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 2206.5%, which works out to an average of
3.25% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1915 bought what
$0.04 buys in 2013: the 1915 dollar
lost 95.7% of its purchasing power over
these 98 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 2013 at the same ratio, 23.07: $1,000 becomes
$23,065, and $10,000 becomes $230,650.
Amount in 1915
Value in 2013
$1.00
$23.07
$5.00
$115
$10.00
$231
$20.00
$461
$50.00
$1,153
$100
$2,307
$500
$11,533
$1,000
$23,065
$5,000
$115,325
$10,000
$230,650
$100,000
$2,306,505
$1,000,000
$23,065,050
Inflation by spending category, 1915–2013
Between 1915 and 2013, food rose the most, up 2270.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 732.8%, against 2206.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1915
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1915 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.25%
$2,307
Food
3.28%
$2,370
Apparel
2.19%
$833
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 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1910s, averaging 14.64% a year, and fell in the 1920s (1.8% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1915–2013 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1915, at end
1915–1920
14.64%
98.0%
$198
1920–1930
-1.79%
-16.5%
$165
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$139
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$239
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$293
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$384
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$816
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$1,294
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,705
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$2,159
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$2,307
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1915
$100 from 1915 had already become $312 by
1965, on its way to $2,307 in 2013; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1915 had the buying
power of $2,307; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1915 to 2013: $100 is worth $2,307 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1915-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1915 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1915-to-2013/