$100 in 1921 is worth $181 in 1966,
because prices increased 81.0% over that period, an average of
1.33% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$181
in 1966
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
81.0%
Average inflation rate
1.33% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$181
Price difference ($100 base)
$81.01
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1966
32.4
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
$100 in 1921 → 1966
$181
$100 in 1966 → 1921
$55.25
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1966
Between 1921 and 1966, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 32.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 81.0%, which works out to an average of
1.33% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.55 buys in 1966: the 1921 dollar
lost 44.8% of its purchasing power over
these 45 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 1966 at the same ratio, 1.81: $1,000 becomes
$1,810, and $10,000 becomes $18,101.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1966
$1.00
$1.81
$5.00
$9.05
$10.00
$18.10
$20.00
$36.20
$50.00
$90.50
$100
$181
$500
$905
$1,000
$1,810
$5,000
$9,050
$10,000
$18,101
$100,000
$181,006
$1,000,000
$1,810,056
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1966
Between 1921 and 1966, food rose the most, up 112.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 47.6%, against 81.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1966, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.33%
$181
Food
1.69%
$213
Apparel
0.87%
$148
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 1966
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 1921–1966 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
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$165
1960–1966
1.52%
9.5%
$181
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $96.65 by
1943, on its way to $181 in 1966; 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: 1966
In 1966, prices rose 2.9% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $181; the year's average CPI of 32.4 is the level
behind every 1966 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 2.9% in 1966, nearly double 1965’s
1.6% as Vietnam War spending kept climbing without an offsetting tax
increase, pushing the economy closer to capacity and prices higher along
with it. Medicare coverage took effect that July 1, extending federal
health insurance to roughly 19 million Americans age 65 and older under
the program signed into law the year before. The Federal Reserve had
already moved to cool the overheating economy, raising its discount rate
the previous December over White House objections; the tightening carried
into 1966 as the first postwar credit crunch, freezing parts of the
housing and municipal bond markets even as inflation kept climbing. Congress widened
the wage floor’s reach that September 23, when the Fair Labor Standards
Amendments of 1966 set a $1.40 minimum wage effective the following
February and extended coverage to roughly 9 million more workers in
retail, hospitals, schools, and other services not previously covered.
Consumer prices finished 1966 227.3% above their 1913
level. First-class postage held at 5 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at
$1.25 an hour for the rest of the year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1966: $100 is worth $181 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1966/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1966. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1966/