$100 in 1917 is worth $1,849 in 2014,
because prices increased 1749.5% over that period, an average of
3.05% a year.
$100 in 1917 has
the same buying power as
$1,849
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1749.5%
Average inflation rate
3.05% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,849
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,749
CPI in 1917
12.8
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1917
17.43%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1917 → 2014
$1,849
$100 in 2014 → 1917
$5.41
What happened to prices between 1917 and 2014
Between 1917 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 12.8 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1749.5%, which works out to an average of
3.05% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1917 bought what
$0.05 buys in 2014: the 1917 dollar
lost 94.6% of its purchasing power over
these 97 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 2014 at the same ratio, 18.49: $1,000 becomes
$18,495, and $10,000 becomes $184,950.
Amount in 1917
Value in 2014
$1.00
$18.49
$5.00
$92.48
$10.00
$185
$20.00
$370
$50.00
$925
$100
$1,849
$500
$9,247
$1,000
$18,495
$5,000
$92,475
$10,000
$184,950
$100,000
$1,849,500
$1,000,000
$18,495,000
Inflation by spending category, 1917–2014
Between 1917 and 2014, food rose the most, up 1574.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 531.3%, against 1749.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1917
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1917 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.05%
$1,849
Food
2.95%
$1,674
Apparel
1.92%
$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 2014
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 1917–2014 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
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$1,849
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1917
$100 from 1917 had already become $261 by
1967, on its way to $1,849 in 2014; 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: 2014
In 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1917 had the buying
power of $1,849; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1917 to 2014: $100 is worth $1,849 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1917 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-2014/