$100 in 1916 is worth $157 in 1928,
because prices increased 56.9% over that period, an average of
3.82% a year.
$100 in 1916 has
the same buying power as
$157
in 1928
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
56.9%
Average inflation rate
3.82% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$157
Price difference ($100 base)
$56.88
CPI in 1916
10.9
CPI in 1928
17.1
Inflation in 1916
7.92%
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
$100 in 1916 → 1928
$157
$100 in 1928 → 1916
$63.74
What happened to prices between 1916 and 1928
Between 1916 and 1928, the Consumer Price Index went from 10.9 to 17.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 56.9%, which works out to an average of
3.82% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1916 bought what
$0.64 buys in 1928: the 1916 dollar
lost 36.3% of its purchasing power over
these 12 years.
1916 was when World War I first showed up clearly in American price tags.
Consumer prices rose 7.9% for the year, easily the sharpest increase since
the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI history begins in 1913, as factories ran
flat out to fill steel, munitions, and food orders from Britain and France.
Railroad workers felt the squeeze from rising living costs enough to threaten
a nationwide strike; Congress headed it off in September with the Adamson
Act, which set an eight-hour standard workday for interstate rail employees,
the first federal law of its kind covering private-sector hours. Washington
was also preparing more directly for war: the National Defense Act, signed
in June, expanded the Army and National Guard and funded new
government-owned munitions plants, adding another source of demand to an
economy already running hot. Woodrow Wilson won re-election in November
largely on having kept the country out of the fighting so far, a promise
that would not survive the following spring. A first-class stamp still cost
2 cents, one of the few prices that had not yet moved.
Every 1916 amount converts to 1928 at the same ratio, 1.57: $1,000 becomes
$1,569, and $10,000 becomes $15,688.
Amount in 1916
Value in 1928
$1.00
$1.57
$5.00
$7.84
$10.00
$15.69
$20.00
$31.38
$50.00
$78.44
$100
$157
$500
$784
$1,000
$1,569
$5,000
$7,844
$10,000
$15,688
$100,000
$156,881
$1,000,000
$1,568,807
Inflation by spending category, 1916–1928
Between 1916 and 1928, apparel rose the most, up 48.8%, while food rose the least, up 44.2%, against 56.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1916
spending costs in 1928, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1916 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.82%
$157
Apparel
3.37%
$149
Food
3.10%
$144
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1916: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1916 to 1928
Prices climbed fastest in the 1910s, averaging 16.39% a year, and fell in the 1920s (1.9% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1916–1928 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1916, at end
1916–1920
16.39%
83.5%
$183
1920–1928
-1.94%
-14.5%
$157
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1916
$100 from 1916 had already become $154 by
1922, on its way to $157 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 1916 had the buying
power of $157; 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 1916 to 1928: $100 is worth $157 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1916-to-1928/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1916 to 1928. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1916-to-1928/