$100 in 1921 is worth $1,005 in 2002,
because prices increased 905.0% over that period, an average of
2.89% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$1,005
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
905.0%
Average inflation rate
2.89% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,005
Price difference ($100 base)
$905
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1921 → 2002
$1,005
$100 in 2002 → 1921
$9.95
What happened to prices between 1921 and 2002
Between 1921 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 905.0%, which works out to an average of
2.89% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.10 buys in 2002: the 1921 dollar
lost 90.1% of its purchasing power over
these 81 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 2002 at the same ratio, 10.05: $1,000 becomes
$10,050, and $10,000 becomes $100,503.
Amount in 1921
Value in 2002
$1.00
$10.05
$5.00
$50.25
$10.00
$101
$20.00
$201
$50.00
$503
$100
$1,005
$500
$5,025
$1,000
$10,050
$5,000
$50,251
$10,000
$100,503
$100,000
$1,005,028
$1,000,000
$10,050,279
Inflation by spending category, 1921–2002
Between 1921 and 2002, food rose the most, up 1008.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 273.5%, against 905.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.89%
$1,005
Food
3.01%
$1,108
Apparel
1.64%
$373
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 2002
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 1921–2002 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$962
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$1,005
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $167 by
1961, on its way to $1,005 in 2002; 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: 2002
In 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $1,005; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 2002: $100 is worth $1,005 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2002/