$100 in 1917 is worth $1,682 in 2008,
because prices increased 1582.1% over that period, an average of
3.15% a year.
$100 in 1917 has
the same buying power as
$1,682
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1582.1%
Average inflation rate
3.15% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,682
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,582
CPI in 1917
12.8
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1917
17.43%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1917 → 2008
$1,682
$100 in 2008 → 1917
$5.95
What happened to prices between 1917 and 2008
Between 1917 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 12.8 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1582.1%, which works out to an average of
3.15% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1917 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2008: the 1917 dollar
lost 94.1% of its purchasing power over
these 91 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 2008 at the same ratio, 16.82: $1,000 becomes
$16,821, and $10,000 becomes $168,205.
Amount in 1917
Value in 2008
$1.00
$16.82
$5.00
$84.10
$10.00
$168
$20.00
$336
$50.00
$841
$100
$1,682
$500
$8,410
$1,000
$16,821
$5,000
$84,103
$10,000
$168,205
$100,000
$1,682,055
$1,000,000
$16,820,547
Inflation by spending category, 1917–2008
Between 1917 and 2008, food rose the most, up 1376.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 488.6%, against 1582.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1917
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1917 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.15%
$1,682
Food
3.00%
$1,477
Apparel
1.97%
$589
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 2008
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 1917–2008 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$1,021
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,345
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$1,682
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1917
$100 from 1917 had already become $236 by
1962, on its way to $1,682 in 2008; 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: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1917 had the buying
power of $1,682; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1917 to 2008: $100 is worth $1,682 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1917 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-2008/