$100 in 1921 is worth $601 in 1985,
because prices increased 501.1% over that period, an average of
2.84% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$601
in 1985
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
501.1%
Average inflation rate
2.84% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$601
Price difference ($100 base)
$501
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1985
107.6
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
$100 in 1921 → 1985
$601
$100 in 1985 → 1921
$16.64
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1985
Between 1921 and 1985, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 107.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 501.1%, which works out to an average of
2.84% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.17 buys in 1985: the 1921 dollar
lost 83.4% of its purchasing power over
these 64 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 1985 at the same ratio, 6.01: $1,000 becomes
$6,011, and $10,000 becomes $60,112.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1985
$1.00
$6.01
$5.00
$30.06
$10.00
$60.11
$20.00
$120
$50.00
$301
$100
$601
$500
$3,006
$1,000
$6,011
$5,000
$30,056
$10,000
$60,112
$100,000
$601,117
$1,000,000
$6,011,173
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1985
Between 1921 and 1985, food rose the most, up 564.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 216.3%, against 501.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1985, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.84%
$601
Food
3.00%
$664
Apparel
1.82%
$316
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 1985
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 1921–1985 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
1980–1985
5.48%
30.6%
$601
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $145 by
1951, on its way to $601 in 1985; 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: 1985
In 1985, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $601; the year's average CPI of 107.6 is the level
behind every 1985 figure on this page.
By 1985, low inflation had become the norm rather than the exception.
Consumer prices rose 3.6% for the year, the fourth straight year in the
3-6% range following the double-digit spikes of 1980 and 1981, proof that
the disinflation had held rather than merely paused, as it had after
previous recessions. Overseas, the dollar had become a problem of its own:
years of high U.S. interest rates had pulled in foreign capital and pushed
the dollar’s value up so far that American exporters were losing business
abroad, widening the trade deficit. In September, the finance ministers of
the U.S., Japan, West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom met at New
York’s Plaza Hotel and agreed to coordinate a managed decline of the
dollar; it fell roughly 25% against major currencies over the following two
years. At home, Congress responded to a federal deficit that had roughly
tripled since 1980 by passing the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act in December,
setting binding targets to shrink the deficit with automatic
across-the-board cuts if lawmakers missed them. Households felt the calmer
economy in small ways: first-class postage rose to 22 cents in February,
its first increase since November 1981, after nearly four years at 20
cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1985: $100 is worth $601 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1985/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1985. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1985/