$100 in 1921 is worth $897 in 1997,
because prices increased 796.6% over that period, an average of
2.93% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$897
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
796.6%
Average inflation rate
2.93% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$897
Price difference ($100 base)
$797
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1921 → 1997
$897
$100 in 1997 → 1921
$11.15
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1997
Between 1921 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 796.6%, which works out to an average of
2.93% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.11 buys in 1997: the 1921 dollar
lost 88.8% of its purchasing power over
these 76 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 1997 at the same ratio, 8.97: $1,000 becomes
$8,966, and $10,000 becomes $89,665.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1997
$1.00
$8.97
$5.00
$44.83
$10.00
$89.66
$20.00
$179
$50.00
$448
$100
$897
$500
$4,483
$1,000
$8,966
$5,000
$44,832
$10,000
$89,665
$100,000
$896,648
$1,000,000
$8,966,480
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1997
Between 1921 and 1997, food rose the most, up 889.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 300.3%, against 796.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.93%
$897
Food
3.06%
$989
Apparel
1.84%
$400
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 1997
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 1921–1997 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
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$897
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $167 by
1961, on its way to $897 in 1997; 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: 1997
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $897; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1997: $100 is worth $897 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1997/