$100 in 1918 is worth $1,543 in 2013,
because prices increased 1442.8% over that period, an average of
2.92% a year.
$100 in 1918 has
the same buying power as
$1,543
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1442.8%
Average inflation rate
2.92% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,543
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,443
CPI in 1918
15.1
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1918
17.97%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1918 → 2013
$1,543
$100 in 2013 → 1918
$6.48
What happened to prices between 1918 and 2013
Between 1918 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 15.1 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1442.8%, which works out to an average of
2.92% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1918 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2013: the 1918 dollar
lost 93.5% of its purchasing power over
these 95 years.
1918 brought the steepest annual price increase the CPI had recorded:
consumer prices rose 18.0% for the year, edging out 1917’s already sharp
17.4% as the economy stayed at full wartime mobilization for most of the
year. A first-class stamp cost 3 cents, up from 2 cents the previous
November under the War Revenue Act’s wartime tax increases. The war itself
ended on November 11, when Germany signed an armistice with the Allied
powers after more than four years of fighting in Europe, but the inflation
built up over a year and a half of mobilization did not disappear along with
the fighting. The bigger public health story that year was the influenza
pandemic that reached the U.S. in a mild spring wave and then returned that
fall in a far deadlier form, eventually killing roughly 675,000 Americans,
more than the country’s combat losses in the war. It hit factories, docks,
and shops alongside households, adding disruption to an economy already
strained by wartime demand. Prices would keep climbing even after the
armistice, into the postwar surge of 1919.
Every 1918 amount converts to 2013 at the same ratio, 15.43: $1,000 becomes
$15,428, and $10,000 becomes $154,276.
Amount in 1918
Value in 2013
$1.00
$15.43
$5.00
$77.14
$10.00
$154
$20.00
$309
$50.00
$771
$100
$1,543
$500
$7,714
$1,000
$15,428
$5,000
$77,138
$10,000
$154,276
$100,000
$1,542,762
$1,000,000
$15,427,616
Inflation by spending category, 1918–2013
Between 1918 and 2013, food rose the most, up 1319.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 366.7%, against 1442.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1918
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1918 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.92%
$1,543
Food
2.83%
$1,419
Apparel
1.63%
$467
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1918: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1918 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1910s, averaging 15.09% a year, and fell in the 1920s (1.8% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1918–2013 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1918, at end
1918–1920
15.09%
32.5%
$132
1920–1930
-1.79%
-16.5%
$111
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$92.72
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$160
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$196
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$257
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$546
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$866
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,140
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,444
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$1,543
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1918
$100 from 1918 had already become $203 by
1963, on its way to $1,543 in 2013; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 15.6% in 1920, 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 1918 had the buying
power of $1,543; 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 1918 to 2013: $100 is worth $1,543 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1918-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1918 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1918-to-2013/