$100 in 1917 is worth $188 in 1950,
because prices increased 88.3% over that period, an average of
1.94% a year.
$100 in 1917 has
the same buying power as
$188
in 1950
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
88.3%
Average inflation rate
1.94% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$188
Price difference ($100 base)
$88.28
CPI in 1917
12.8
CPI in 1950
24.1
Inflation in 1917
17.43%
Inflation in 1950
1.26%
$100 in 1917 → 1950
$188
$100 in 1950 → 1917
$53.11
What happened to prices between 1917 and 1950
Between 1917 and 1950, the Consumer Price Index went from 12.8 to 24.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 88.3%, which works out to an average of
1.94% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1917 bought what
$0.53 buys in 1950: the 1917 dollar
lost 46.9% of its purchasing power over
these 33 years.
1917 is when World War I inflation stopped being a background trend and
became the dominant fact of American economic life. Consumer prices rose
17.4% for the year, more than double the previous year’s already sharp
increase, as the country’s April 6 entry into the war layered federal war
spending on top of an economy already strained by military demand and
worker shortages. Congress paid for the war with the War Revenue Act that
October, which sharply raised income taxes, created a new tax on wartime
business profits, and, in a small but very visible change for ordinary
households, raised the cost of a first-class stamp from 2 cents to 3 cents
that November, the rate’s first move since 1885. Herbert Hoover took over
the new Food Administration in August and asked Americans to conserve food
voluntarily rather than face formal rationing, a campaign that became
famous enough that “Hooverize” entered the language as a verb for cutting
back. None of it slowed prices much: the 17.4% increase would be topped
again the very next year, in 1918.
Every 1917 amount converts to 1950 at the same ratio, 1.88: $1,000 becomes
$1,883, and $10,000 becomes $18,828.
Amount in 1917
Value in 1950
$1.00
$1.88
$5.00
$9.41
$10.00
$18.83
$20.00
$37.66
$50.00
$94.14
$100
$188
$500
$941
$1,000
$1,883
$5,000
$9,414
$10,000
$18,828
$100,000
$188,281
$1,000,000
$1,882,813
Inflation by spending category, 1917–1950
Between 1917 and 1950, apparel rose the most, up 99.5%, while food rose the least, up 75.2%, against 88.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1917
spending costs in 1950, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1917 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.94%
$188
Apparel
2.11%
$200
Food
1.71%
$175
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1917: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1917 to 1950
Prices climbed fastest in the 1910s, averaging 16.04% a year, and fell in the 1920s (1.8% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1917–1950 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1917, at end
1917–1920
16.04%
56.3%
$156
1920–1930
-1.79%
-16.5%
$130
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$109
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$188
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1917
$100 from 1917 had already become $102 by
1933, on its way to $188 in 1950; 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 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1950
In 1950, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1917 had the buying
power of $188; the year's average CPI of 24.1 is the level
behind every 1950 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 1.3% in 1950, up from 1949’s 1.2%
decline, a mild gain that hid a sharp turn partway through the year. The
cost of living had been roughly flat through the spring, then jumped after
North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, setting off a wave of hoarding
and defense buying reminiscent of World War II shortages. The United
States entered the war within days under a United Nations mandate;
American and South Korean forces were pushed back to the Pusan Perimeter
that summer before a landing at Inchon that September reversed the front,
and China’s entry into the war that November turned it into a longer
stalemate. Congress moved to put the economy on a war footing that
September, passing the Defense Production Act, which gave the president
authority to direct industrial output toward the military and, if prices
kept climbing, to impose formal wage and price controls. Domestic policy
also expanded that year: the Social Security Amendments of 1950, signed
August 28, raised benefits across the board and extended coverage to
roughly 10 million more workers, the program’s first major expansion since
it began in 1935. Consumer prices finished 1950 143.4% above their
1913 level, matching 1948’s postwar high
after 1949’s brief decline. First-class postage held at 3 cents, and the
minimum wage stood at 75 cents an hour after January’s increase.
MLA: “Inflation from 1917 to 1950: $100 is worth $188 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-1950/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1917 to 1950. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-1950/