$100 in 1921 is worth $761 in 1991,
because prices increased 660.9% over that period, an average of
2.94% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$761
in 1991
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
660.9%
Average inflation rate
2.94% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$761
Price difference ($100 base)
$661
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1991
136.2
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
$100 in 1921 → 1991
$761
$100 in 1991 → 1921
$13.14
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1991
Between 1921 and 1991, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 136.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 660.9%, which works out to an average of
2.94% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.13 buys in 1991: the 1921 dollar
lost 86.9% of its purchasing power over
these 70 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 1991 at the same ratio, 7.61: $1,000 becomes
$7,609, and $10,000 becomes $76,089.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1991
$1.00
$7.61
$5.00
$38.04
$10.00
$76.09
$20.00
$152
$50.00
$380
$100
$761
$500
$3,804
$1,000
$7,609
$5,000
$38,045
$10,000
$76,089
$100,000
$760,894
$1,000,000
$7,608,939
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1991
Between 1921 and 1991, food rose the most, up 757.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 287.7%, against 660.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1991, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.94%
$761
Food
3.12%
$857
Apparel
1.95%
$388
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 1991
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 1921–1991 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$730
1990–1991
4.21%
4.2%
$761
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $152 by
1956, on its way to $761 in 1991; 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: 1991
In 1991, prices rose 4.2% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $761; the year's average CPI of 136.2 is the level
behind every 1991 figure on this page.
1991 opened in recession and closed in a slow, uneven recovery. The median household earned
about $30,100 for the year, gas averaged $1.14 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $120,000.
Inflation ran at 4.2% for the year, down from 1990’s oil-driven spike, as the Gulf War ended in
February and crude oil retreated from its autumn highs. The recession itself, dated by the
National Bureau of Economic Research from July 1990 to March 1991, was technically over by
spring, but hiring stayed weak well into 1992, the stretch economists came to call the jobless
recovery. The Federal Reserve kept cutting interest rates through the year to support growth,
reversing the tightening campaign it had run through the late 1980s. In April the federal
minimum wage rose to $4.25 an hour, the second step of an increase from the $3.35 rate that had
held since 1981. The Postal Service had already raised the cost of a first-class stamp to 29
cents that February. It was the first full year of the decade without an oil shock driving
prices, even if the job market took longer to follow.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1991: $100 is worth $761 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1991/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1991. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1991/