$100 in 1921 is worth $150 in 1954,
because prices increased 50.3% over that period, an average of
1.24% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$150
in 1954
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
50.3%
Average inflation rate
1.24% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$150
Price difference ($100 base)
$50.28
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1954
26.9
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1954
0.75%
$100 in 1921 → 1954
$150
$100 in 1954 → 1921
$66.54
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1954
Between 1921 and 1954, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 26.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 50.3%, which works out to an average of
1.24% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.67 buys in 1954: the 1921 dollar
lost 33.5% of its purchasing power over
these 33 years.
Consumer prices fell 10.5% in 1921, the mirror image of the wartime
inflation that had more than doubled the cost of living between
1913 and 1920. The Depression of 1920-21, one
of the sharpest contractions in U.S. history, bottomed out that July
according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, even though it had
lasted barely eighteen months. Unemployment climbed toward one worker in ten
as businesses cut production and prices to work through wartime inventories,
but the same collapse in prices also meant the recovery, once it started,
had room to run without reigniting inflation. Warren Harding took office
March 4, promising a return to “normalcy” after a decade of war, pandemic,
labor unrest, and rapid price swings; his administration moved quickly to
cut top income tax rates and federal spending. Congress also acted on
immigration that year: the Emergency Quota Act, signed May 19, capped annual
arrivals from each country at 3% of that nationality’s population in the
1910 census, the first time the United States had set a numerical ceiling on
immigration. The law favored northern and western Europe and cut total
immigration by more than half compared with prewar levels; Congress
tightened the formula again in 1924. First-class postage held at 2 cents,
unchanged since mid-1919.
Every 1921 amount converts to 1954 at the same ratio, 1.50: $1,000 becomes
$1,503, and $10,000 becomes $15,028.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1954
$1.00
$1.50
$5.00
$7.51
$10.00
$15.03
$20.00
$30.06
$50.00
$75.14
$100
$150
$500
$751
$1,000
$1,503
$5,000
$7,514
$10,000
$15,028
$100,000
$150,279
$1,000,000
$1,502,793
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1954
Between 1921 and 1954, food rose the most, up 77.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 29.8%, against 50.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1954, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.24%
$150
Food
1.75%
$177
Apparel
0.79%
$130
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1921: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1921 to 1954
Prices climbed fastest in the 1940s, averaging 5.58% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1921–1954 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1921, at end
1921–1930
-0.77%
-6.7%
$93.30
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$78.21
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$135
1950–1954
2.79%
11.6%
$150
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $80.45 by
1937, on its way to $150 in 1954; 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 9.9% in 1932, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1954
In 1954, prices rose 0.7% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $150; the year's average CPI of 26.9 is the level
behind every 1954 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 0.7% in 1954, extending 1953’s 0.8%
slowdown even as the economy tipped into recession, an early example of
prices continuing to rise through a downturn rather than falling with it.
The National Bureau of Economic Research dates that recession from July
1953 to May 1954, as defense spending fell after the Korean War armistice
and the tighter monetary policy of the year before worked its way through
the economy. The Supreme Court reshaped a different part of American life
that spring: its unanimous May 17 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education
held that “separate but equal” public schools violated the Constitution,
overturning the legal basis for segregated education. Washington also
closed the book on a different fight that year. Following the televised
Army-McCarthy hearings that spring, the Senate voted 67 to 22 on December
2 to condemn Senator Joseph McCarthy’s conduct, ending his dominance of
American politics after four years of anti-communist investigations.
Consumer prices finished 1954 171.7% above their 1913
level, essentially flat with 1953 as the mild recession
held the cost of living in check. First-class postage held at 3 cents,
and the minimum wage stayed at 75 cents an hour.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1954: $100 is worth $150 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1954/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1954. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1954/