$100 in 1917 is worth $1,820 in 2013,
because prices increased 1720.0% over that period, an average of
3.07% a year.
$100 in 1917 has
the same buying power as
$1,820
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1720.0%
Average inflation rate
3.07% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,820
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,720
CPI in 1917
12.8
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1917
17.43%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1917 → 2013
$1,820
$100 in 2013 → 1917
$5.49
What happened to prices between 1917 and 2013
Between 1917 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 12.8 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1720.0%, which works out to an average of
3.07% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1917 bought what
$0.05 buys in 2013: the 1917 dollar
lost 94.5% of its purchasing power over
these 96 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 2013 at the same ratio, 18.20: $1,000 becomes
$18,200, and $10,000 becomes $181,998.
Amount in 1917
Value in 2013
$1.00
$18.20
$5.00
$91.00
$10.00
$182
$20.00
$364
$50.00
$910
$100
$1,820
$500
$9,100
$1,000
$18,200
$5,000
$90,999
$10,000
$181,998
$100,000
$1,819,977
$1,000,000
$18,199,766
Inflation by spending category, 1917–2013
Between 1917 and 2013, food rose the most, up 1534.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 530.7%, against 1720.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1917
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1917 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.07%
$1,820
Food
2.95%
$1,635
Apparel
1.94%
$631
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 2013
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 1917–2013 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,704
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$1,820
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1917
$100 from 1917 had already become $261 by
1967, on its way to $1,820 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 1917 had the buying
power of $1,820; 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 1917 to 2013: $100 is worth $1,820 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1917 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-2013/