$100 in 1921 is worth $1,283 in 2012,
because prices increased 1182.6% over that period, an average of
2.84% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$1,283
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1182.6%
Average inflation rate
2.84% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,283
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,183
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 1921 → 2012
$1,283
$100 in 2012 → 1921
$7.80
What happened to prices between 1921 and 2012
Between 1921 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1182.6%, which works out to an average of
2.84% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2012: the 1921 dollar
lost 92.2% of its purchasing power over
these 91 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 2012 at the same ratio, 12.83: $1,000 becomes
$12,826, and $10,000 becomes $128,265.
Amount in 1921
Value in 2012
$1.00
$12.83
$5.00
$64.13
$10.00
$128
$20.00
$257
$50.00
$641
$100
$1,283
$500
$6,413
$1,000
$12,826
$5,000
$64,132
$10,000
$128,265
$100,000
$1,282,648
$1,000,000
$12,826,480
Inflation by spending category, 1921–2012
Between 1921 and 2012, food rose the most, up 1370.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 280.3%, against 1182.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.84%
$1,283
Food
3.00%
$1,470
Apparel
1.48%
$380
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 2012
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 1921–2012 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,218
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$1,283
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $181 by
1966, on its way to $1,283 in 2012; 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: 2012
In 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $1,283; the year's average CPI of 229.594 is the level
behind every 2012 figure on this page.
2012 put a number on what the Federal Reserve was aiming for. In January the
Fed announced a 2% inflation target, and consumer prices rose 2.1% for the
year, almost exactly on it. Gasoline averaged $3.62 a gallon, another annual
high, but the pace of increase cooled from 2011’s 3.2% as food and core prices
grew more slowly.
The bigger story was housing and jobs. Home prices began to recover, and the
median new home sold for about $245,200, up from $227,200 the year before.
Median household income was $51,017. The federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 45 cents.
In September the Fed started a third round of asset purchases, this one with
no fixed end date, aimed at lowering unemployment. Overseas, the European
Central Bank’s July pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro calmed
bond markets. A summer drought across the Midwest drove corn and soybean
prices to records, a shock that reached grocery shelves only partly, because
most of what shoppers pay for food covers processing and transport rather than
raw crops.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 2012: $100 is worth $1,283 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2012/