$100 in 1921 is worth $661 in 1988,
because prices increased 560.9% over that period, an average of
2.86% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$661
in 1988
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
560.9%
Average inflation rate
2.86% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$661
Price difference ($100 base)
$561
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1988
118.3
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
$100 in 1921 → 1988
$661
$100 in 1988 → 1921
$15.13
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1988
Between 1921 and 1988, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 118.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 560.9%, which works out to an average of
2.86% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.15 buys in 1988: the 1921 dollar
lost 84.9% of its purchasing power over
these 67 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 1988 at the same ratio, 6.61: $1,000 becomes
$6,609, and $10,000 becomes $66,089.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1988
$1.00
$6.61
$5.00
$33.04
$10.00
$66.09
$20.00
$132
$50.00
$330
$100
$661
$500
$3,304
$1,000
$6,609
$5,000
$33,045
$10,000
$66,089
$100,000
$660,894
$1,000,000
$6,608,939
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1988
Between 1921 and 1988, food rose the most, up 643.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 247.6%, against 560.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1988, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.86%
$661
Food
3.04%
$743
Apparel
1.88%
$348
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 1988
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 1921–1988 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
1980–1988
4.62%
43.6%
$661
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $152 by
1956, on its way to $661 in 1988; 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: 1988
In 1988, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $661; the year's average CPI of 118.3 is the level
behind every 1988 figure on this page.
By 1988, the economic expansion that began in the ashes of the 1981-82
recession was in its sixth year, and the Federal Reserve was watching for
signs it had run too long. Inflation rose to 4.1%, up from 3.6% the year
before, while unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1974. Alan
Greenspan’s Fed responded by raising the federal funds rate through the
year, from about 6.5% to 8.5%, trying to cool demand before prices
accelerated the way they had in the 1970s. Households still felt the
difference between this expansion and the last one: gas held near 90 cents
a gallon, almost exactly its 1987 price, and median household income rose
to roughly $27,200. The one price that moved was postage, which rose from
22 to 25 cents in April, the fourth increase of the decade but a far
gentler pace than the string of increases in the late 1970s and early
1980s. In November, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidency on
the strength of the expansion, promising in his nomination speech to hold
the line on taxes. Both the boom and that pledge would run into trouble
within two years, as the Fed’s rate increases helped tip the economy toward
the 1990-91 recession.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1988: $100 is worth $661 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1988/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1988. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1988/