$100 in 1921 is worth $275 in 1974,
because prices increased 175.4% over that period, an average of
1.93% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$275
in 1974
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
175.4%
Average inflation rate
1.93% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$275
Price difference ($100 base)
$175
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1974
49.3
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
$100 in 1921 → 1974
$275
$100 in 1974 → 1921
$36.31
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1974
Between 1921 and 1974, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 49.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 175.4%, which works out to an average of
1.93% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.36 buys in 1974: the 1921 dollar
lost 63.7% of its purchasing power over
these 53 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 1974 at the same ratio, 2.75: $1,000 becomes
$2,754, and $10,000 becomes $27,542.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1974
$1.00
$2.75
$5.00
$13.77
$10.00
$27.54
$20.00
$55.08
$50.00
$138
$100
$275
$500
$1,377
$1,000
$2,754
$5,000
$13,771
$10,000
$27,542
$100,000
$275,419
$1,000,000
$2,754,190
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1974
Between 1921 and 1974, food rose the most, up 246.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 109.0%, against 175.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1974, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.93%
$275
Food
2.37%
$347
Apparel
1.40%
$209
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 1974
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.17% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1921–1974 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
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$217
1970–1974
6.17%
27.1%
$275
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $125 by
1947, on its way to $275 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 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: 1974
In 1974, prices rose 11.0% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $275; 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 1921 to 1974: $100 is worth $275 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1974/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1974. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1974/