$100 in 1921 is worth $318 in 1976,
because prices increased 217.9% over that period, an average of
2.12% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$318
in 1976
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
217.9%
Average inflation rate
2.12% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$318
Price difference ($100 base)
$218
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1976
56.9
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
$100 in 1921 → 1976
$318
$100 in 1976 → 1921
$31.46
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1976
Between 1921 and 1976, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 56.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 217.9%, which works out to an average of
2.12% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.31 buys in 1976: the 1921 dollar
lost 68.5% of its purchasing power over
these 55 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 1976 at the same ratio, 3.18: $1,000 becomes
$3,179, and $10,000 becomes $31,788.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1976
$1.00
$3.18
$5.00
$15.89
$10.00
$31.79
$20.00
$63.58
$50.00
$159
$100
$318
$500
$1,589
$1,000
$3,179
$5,000
$15,894
$10,000
$31,788
$100,000
$317,877
$1,000,000
$3,178,771
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1976
Between 1921 and 1976, food rose the most, up 287.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 126.5%, against 217.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1976, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.12%
$318
Food
2.49%
$387
Apparel
1.50%
$227
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 1976
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.59% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1921–1976 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
1970–1976
6.59%
46.6%
$318
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $133 by
1949, on its way to $318 in 1976; 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: 1976
In 1976, prices rose 5.8% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $318; the year's average CPI of 56.9 is the level
behind every 1976 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 5.8% in 1976, the calmest pace since 1972,
as the economy pulled out of the 1973-75 recession and price growth settled
to roughly half its 1974 peak. The recovery gave Americans
room to celebrate: tall ships filled New York Harbor and fireworks lit cities
nationwide on July 4 for the country’s bicentennial, a rare moment of shared
celebration after Vietnam and Watergate. Politically, Jimmy Carter, a former
Georgia governor running as a Washington outsider, defeated incumbent Gerald
Ford that November, campaigning on restoring trust in government and bringing
down inflation and unemployment together. In a California garage, Steve
Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer that April to
sell the Apple I, a bare circuit board aimed at electronics hobbyists, a
business that looked far from consequential at the time. First-class
postage, which had risen to 13 cents that past December 31, held there
through the year, the longest stretch without a rate change since the Postal
Service’s creation. A median household earned $12,686 in 1976, a new home
sold for a median $44,200, and gas averaged 59 cents a gallon. Consumer
prices stood 474.7% above their 1913 level, a calm interlude
before inflation turned back up.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1976: $100 is worth $318 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1976/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1976. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1976/