$100 in 1920 is worth $1,165 in 2013,
because prices increased 1064.8% over that period, an average of
2.68% a year.
$100 in 1920 has
the same buying power as
$1,165
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1064.8%
Average inflation rate
2.68% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,165
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,065
CPI in 1920
20
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1920
15.61%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1920 → 2013
$1,165
$100 in 2013 → 1920
$8.59
What happened to prices between 1920 and 2013
Between 1920 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 20 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1064.8%, which works out to an average of
2.68% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1920 bought what
$0.09 buys in 2013: the 1920 dollar
lost 91.4% of its purchasing power over
these 93 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 2013 at the same ratio, 11.65: $1,000 becomes
$11,648, and $10,000 becomes $116,479.
Amount in 1920
Value in 2013
$1.00
$11.65
$5.00
$58.24
$10.00
$116
$20.00
$233
$50.00
$582
$100
$1,165
$500
$5,824
$1,000
$11,648
$5,000
$58,239
$10,000
$116,479
$100,000
$1,164,785
$1,000,000
$11,647,850
Inflation by spending category, 1920–2013
Between 1920 and 2013, food rose the most, up 1028.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 195.6%, against 1064.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1920
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1920 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.68%
$1,165
Food
2.64%
$1,129
Apparel
1.17%
$296
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 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and fell in the 1920s (1.8% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1920–2013 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
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$412
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$653
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$861
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,090
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$1,165
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1920
$100 from 1920 had already become $158 by
1965, on its way to $1,165 in 2013; 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 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1920 had the buying
power of $1,165; 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 1920 to 2013: $100 is worth $1,165 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1920-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1920 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1920-to-2013/