$100 in 1921 is worth $635 in 1987,
because prices increased 534.6% over that period, an average of
2.84% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$635
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
534.6%
Average inflation rate
2.84% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$635
Price difference ($100 base)
$535
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1921 → 1987
$635
$100 in 1987 → 1921
$15.76
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1987
Between 1921 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 534.6%, which works out to an average of
2.84% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.16 buys in 1987: the 1921 dollar
lost 84.2% of its purchasing power over
these 66 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 1987 at the same ratio, 6.35: $1,000 becomes
$6,346, and $10,000 becomes $63,464.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1987
$1.00
$6.35
$5.00
$31.73
$10.00
$63.46
$20.00
$127
$50.00
$317
$100
$635
$500
$3,173
$1,000
$6,346
$5,000
$31,732
$10,000
$63,464
$100,000
$634,637
$1,000,000
$6,346,369
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1987
Between 1921 and 1987, food rose the most, up 613.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 233.1%, against 534.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.84%
$635
Food
3.02%
$714
Apparel
1.84%
$333
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 1987
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 1921–1987 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
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$635
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $152 by
1956, on its way to $635 in 1987; 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: 1987
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $635; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1987: $100 is worth $635 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1987/