$100 in 1921 is worth $911 in 1998,
because prices increased 810.6% over that period, an average of
2.91% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$911
in 1998
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
810.6%
Average inflation rate
2.91% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$911
Price difference ($100 base)
$811
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 1998
163
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 1998
1.56%
$100 in 1921 → 1998
$911
$100 in 1998 → 1921
$10.98
What happened to prices between 1921 and 1998
Between 1921 and 1998, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 163.
Cumulatively, prices increased 810.6%, which works out to an average of
2.91% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.11 buys in 1998: the 1921 dollar
lost 89.0% of its purchasing power over
these 77 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 1998 at the same ratio, 9.11: $1,000 becomes
$9,106, and $10,000 becomes $91,061.
Amount in 1921
Value in 1998
$1.00
$9.11
$5.00
$45.53
$10.00
$91.06
$20.00
$182
$50.00
$455
$100
$911
$500
$4,553
$1,000
$9,106
$5,000
$45,531
$10,000
$91,061
$100,000
$910,615
$1,000,000
$9,106,145
Inflation by spending category, 1921–1998
Between 1921 and 1998, food rose the most, up 910.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 300.6%, against 810.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 1998, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.91%
$911
Food
3.05%
$1,011
Apparel
1.82%
$401
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 1998
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 1921–1998 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
1990–1998
2.80%
24.7%
$911
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $167 by
1961, on its way to $911 in 1998; 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: 1998
In 1998, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $911; the year's average CPI of 163 is the level
behind every 1998 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $38,900 in 1998, gas averaged just $1.06 a gallon, its
cheapest of the decade, and a new home cost roughly $152,500. Inflation ran at 1.6% for the
year, the lowest of the 1990s, as a glut of crude oil, worsened by weak demand from Asia’s
slowdown, pushed prices below $11 a barrel by December and pulled pump prices down with them.
The calm at home came alongside real turmoil abroad: in August, Russia devalued the ruble and
defaulted on its domestic debt, rattling markets already unsettled by the Asian financial
crisis, and in September the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management collapsed after its highly
leveraged bets went bad, prompting the Federal Reserve to organize a private-sector bailout by
more than a dozen banks to prevent a disorderly unwinding of its roughly $100 billion in
positions. The Fed also cut interest rates three times that fall, in September, October, and
November, an insurance policy against the global financial turmoil spreading to the U.S.
economy. Cheap oil and a well-timed set of rate cuts left 1998 as a year the U.S. economy
absorbed two foreign financial crises without much of a dent at home.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 1998: $100 is worth $911 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1998/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 1998. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-1998/