$100 in 1921 is worth $508 in 1981,
because prices increased 407.8% over that period, an average of
2.75% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$508
in 1981
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
407.8%
Average inflation rate
2.75% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$508
Price difference ($100 base)
$408
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1981
90.9
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1981
10.32%
$100 in 1921 → 1981
$508
$100 in 1981 → 1921
$19.69
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1981
Between 1921 and 1981, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 90.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 407.8%, which works out to an average of
2.75% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.20 buys in 1981: the 1921 dollar
lost 80.3% of its purchasing power over
these 60 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 1981 at the same ratio, 5.08: $1,000 becomes
$5,078, and $10,000 becomes $50,782.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1981
$1.00
$5.08
$5.00
$25.39
$10.00
$50.78
$20.00
$102
$50.00
$254
$100
$508
$500
$2,539
$1,000
$5,078
$5,000
$25,391
$10,000
$50,782
$100,000
$507,821
$1,000,000
$5,078,212
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1981
Between 1921 and 1981, food rose the most, up 488.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 187.0%, against 407.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1981, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.75%
$508
Food
3.00%
$589
Apparel
1.77%
$287
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 1981
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 10.32% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1921–1981 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
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$460
1980–1981
10.32%
10.3%
$508
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $145 by
1951, on its way to $508 in 1981; 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: 1981
In 1981, prices rose 10.3% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $508; the year's average CPI of 90.9 is the level
behind every 1981 figure on this page.
1981 was the year the inflation fever finally broke, at an extraordinary price.
Consumer prices rose 10.3%, the second year of back-to-back double-digit
inflation and the last time the U.S. would see one. To end it, Paul Volcker’s
Federal Reserve drove its policy rate above 19% and let borrowing costs go
where they may: a 30-year mortgage cost more than 18% by autumn, car loans and
business credit froze, and homebuilders mailed the Fed two-by-fours in protest.
The squeeze tipped the economy into recession in July, the deep 1981–82
downturn that would push unemployment past 10%. But it worked. Inflation fell
by nearly half within a year and to under 4% by 1983, the disinflation that
defined the following two decades. Even the price of mailing a letter told the
year’s story: postage went up twice in eight months.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1981: $100 is worth $508 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1981/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1981. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1981/