$100 in 1920 is worth $247 in 1974,
because prices increased 146.5% over that period, an average of
1.68% a year.
$100 in 1920 has
the same buying power as
$247
in 1974
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
146.5%
Average inflation rate
1.68% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$247
Price difference ($100 base)
$147
CPI in 1920
20
CPI in 1974
49.3
Inflation in 1920
15.61%
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
$100 in 1920 → 1974
$247
$100 in 1974 → 1920
$40.57
What happened to prices between 1920 and 1974
Between 1920 and 1974, the Consumer Price Index went from 20 to 49.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 146.5%, which works out to an average of
1.68% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1920 bought what
$0.41 buys in 1974: the 1920 dollar
lost 59.4% of its purchasing power over
these 54 years.
1920 was the last year of the inflation that had built since the war began:
consumer prices rose 15.6% for the year, leaving the CPI more than double its
1913 starting level after seven straight years of increases.
The boom behind those increases turned to bust before the year was over. The
Federal Reserve, worried about speculation, pushed its discount rate to a
record 7% that spring, and wholesale prices, which had led the wartime
runup, began collapsing within months. The National Bureau of Economic
Research dates the resulting downturn from January 1920 to July 1921, one of
the shortest but steepest contractions in U.S. history, and consumer prices
followed into outright decline, falling 10.5% in 1921. Two constitutional
changes reshaped the country that year, too. The 18th Amendment’s ban on
alcohol took legal effect January 17, enforced under the Volstead Act
Congress had passed the previous October. Then, on August 18, Tennessee’s
ratification of the 19th Amendment secured women’s right to vote nationwide,
and women cast ballots in a presidential election for the first time that
November, when Warren Harding won on a promise to return the country to
“normalcy” after a decade of war, pandemic, and rising prices. First-class
postage held at 2 cents, unchanged since mid-1919.
Every 1920 amount converts to 1974 at the same ratio, 2.46: $1,000 becomes
$2,465, and $10,000 becomes $24,650.
Amount in 1920
Value in 1974
$1.00
$2.47
$5.00
$12.33
$10.00
$24.65
$20.00
$49.30
$50.00
$123
$100
$247
$500
$1,233
$1,000
$2,465
$5,000
$12,325
$10,000
$24,650
$100,000
$246,500
$1,000,000
$2,465,000
Inflation by spending category, 1920–1974
Between 1920 and 1974, food rose the most, up 162.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 61.0%, against 146.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1920
spending costs in 1974, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1920 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.68%
$247
Food
1.80%
$262
Apparel
0.89%
$161
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1920: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1920 to 1974
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.17% a year, and fell in the 1920s (1.8% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1920–1974 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1920, at end
1920–1930
-1.79%
-16.5%
$83.50
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$70.00
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$121
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$148
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$194
1970–1974
6.17%
27.1%
$247
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1920
$100 from 1920 had already become $97.50 by
1946, on its way to $247 in 1974; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 14.4% in 1947, and prices fell 10.5% in 1921, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1974
In 1974, prices rose 11.0% and $100 from 1920 had the buying
power of $247; the year's average CPI of 49.3 is the level
behind every 1974 figure on this page.
1974 was the year the postwar economy broke its old rules. Consumer prices
rose 11.0%, the fastest annual increase since 1947, as the Arab oil embargo
that ran from October 1973 to March 1974 roughly quadrupled the price of
crude oil worldwide. Gasoline, which had averaged 38.5 cents a gallon in
1973, jumped to 53.2 cents, and shortages forced many states into odd-even
rationing at the pump. Nixon’s wage and price controls, in place in some form
since 1971, expired at the end of April, removing the last brake on prices
just as the oil shock hit. Nixon himself resigned in August over Watergate,
and Gerald Ford’s response to inflation, a voluntary “Whip Inflation Now”
campaign built around lapel buttons, became a symbol of how little
conventional politics could do against the problem. Prices kept climbing even
as the economy weakened: a recession that started in November 1973 dragged
on, the Dow fell to a bear-market bottom of 577.60 in December, and
unemployment was already rising toward the 9% it would reach in 1975. The
combination of rising prices and a shrinking economy gave the decade its
name: stagflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1920 to 1974: $100 is worth $247 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1920-to-1974/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1920 to 1974. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1920-to-1974/