$100 in 1917 is worth $1,875 in 2016,
because prices increased 1775.1% over that period, an average of
3.01% a year.
$100 in 1917 has
the same buying power as
$1,875
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1775.1%
Average inflation rate
3.01% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,875
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,775
CPI in 1917
12.8
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1917
17.43%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1917 → 2016
$1,875
$100 in 2016 → 1917
$5.33
What happened to prices between 1917 and 2016
Between 1917 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 12.8 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1775.1%, which works out to an average of
3.01% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1917 bought what
$0.05 buys in 2016: the 1917 dollar
lost 94.7% of its purchasing power over
these 99 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 2016 at the same ratio, 18.75: $1,000 becomes
$18,751, and $10,000 becomes $187,505.
Amount in 1917
Value in 2016
$1.00
$18.75
$5.00
$93.75
$10.00
$188
$20.00
$375
$50.00
$938
$100
$1,875
$500
$9,375
$1,000
$18,751
$5,000
$93,753
$10,000
$187,505
$100,000
$1,875,055
$1,000,000
$18,750,547
Inflation by spending category, 1917–2016
Between 1917 and 2016, food rose the most, up 1609.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 524.0%, against 1775.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1917
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1917 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.01%
$1,875
Food
2.91%
$1,710
Apparel
1.87%
$624
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 2016
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 1917–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$1,875
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1917
$100 from 1917 had already become $261 by
1967, on its way to $1,875 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1917 had the buying
power of $1,875; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1917 to 2016: $100 is worth $1,875 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1917 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1917-to-2016/