$100 in 1917 is worth $887 in 1987,
because prices increased 787.5% over that period, an average of
3.17% a year.
$100 in 1917 has
the same buying power as
$887
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
787.5%
Average inflation rate
3.17% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$887
Price difference ($100 base)
$787
CPI in 1917
12.8
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1917
17.43%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1917 → 1987
$887
$100 in 1987 → 1917
$11.27
What happened to prices between 1917 and 1987
Between 1917 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 12.8 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 787.5%, which works out to an average of
3.17% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1917 bought what
$0.11 buys in 1987: the 1917 dollar
lost 88.7% of its purchasing power over
these 70 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 1987 at the same ratio, 8.87: $1,000 becomes
$8,875, and $10,000 becomes $88,750.
Amount in 1917
Value in 1987
$1.00
$8.87
$5.00
$44.37
$10.00
$88.75
$20.00
$177
$50.00
$444
$100
$887
$500
$4,437
$1,000
$8,875
$5,000
$44,375
$10,000
$88,750
$100,000
$887,500
$1,000,000
$8,875,000
Inflation by spending category, 1917–1987
Between 1917 and 1987, food rose the most, up 682.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 447.5%, against 787.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1917
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1917 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.17%
$887
Food
2.98%
$783
Apparel
2.46%
$548
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 1987
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 1917–1987 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
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$231
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$303
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$644
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$887
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1917
$100 from 1917 had already become $207 by
1952, on its way to $887 in 1987; 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: 1987
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1917 had the buying
power of $887; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1917 to 1987: $100 is worth $887 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1917 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-1987/