$100 in 1921 is worth $556 in 1983,
because prices increased 456.4% over that period, an average of
2.81% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$556
in 1983
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
456.4%
Average inflation rate
2.81% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$556
Price difference ($100 base)
$456
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1983
99.6
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1983
3.21%
$100 in 1921 → 1983
$556
$100 in 1983 → 1921
$17.97
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1983
Between 1921 and 1983, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 99.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 456.4%, which works out to an average of
2.81% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.18 buys in 1983: the 1921 dollar
lost 82.0% of its purchasing power over
these 62 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 1983 at the same ratio, 5.56: $1,000 becomes
$5,564, and $10,000 becomes $55,642.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1983
$1.00
$5.56
$5.00
$27.82
$10.00
$55.64
$20.00
$111
$50.00
$278
$100
$556
$500
$2,782
$1,000
$5,564
$5,000
$27,821
$10,000
$55,642
$100,000
$556,425
$1,000,000
$5,564,246
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1983
Between 1921 and 1983, food rose the most, up 525.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 201.8%, against 456.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1983, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.81%
$556
Food
3.00%
$625
Apparel
1.80%
$302
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 1983
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1921–1983 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
1980–1983
6.52%
20.9%
$556
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $145 by
1951, on its way to $556 in 1983; 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 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1983
In 1983, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $556; the year's average CPI of 99.6 is the level
behind every 1983 figure on this page.
1983 confirmed that the Volcker disinflation was not a one-year fluke.
Consumer prices rose 3.2% for the year, nearly identical to 1982’s pace and a
fraction of the double-digit rates of 1980 and 1981. With inflation tamed and
interest rates coming down, the economy roared back from the 1981-82
recession: real GDP grew 4.6%, the strongest calendar-year growth since the
1950s, and unemployment fell from its 10.8% peak to 8.3% by December. Housing
and auto sales, both starved of credit during the recession, led the
rebound. In April, Congress and President Reagan enacted the Social Security
Amendments of 1983, a bipartisan rescue of a system projected to run out of
money within months. The law gradually raised the full retirement age from
65 to 67, began taxing benefits for higher-income retirees, and delayed that
year’s cost-of-living adjustment by six months. For a program whose benefits
had been indexed to the CPI since 1975, the amendments were the first major
sign that inflation-proofing Social Security carried a cost Congress could
not simply legislate away. By year’s end, gas averaged $1.16 a gallon and
mailing a letter still cost 20 cents, prices that had barely moved since
1981, a sharp break from the constant increases of the previous decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1983: $100 is worth $556 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1983/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1983. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1983/