$100 in 1921 is worth $1,324 in 2015,
because prices increased 1224.1% over that period, an average of
2.79% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$1,324
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1224.1%
Average inflation rate
2.79% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,324
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,224
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1921 → 2015
$1,324
$100 in 2015 → 1921
$7.55
What happened to prices between 1921 and 2015
Between 1921 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1224.1%, which works out to an average of
2.79% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2015: the 1921 dollar
lost 92.4% of its purchasing power over
these 94 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 2015 at the same ratio, 13.24: $1,000 becomes
$13,241, and $10,000 becomes $132,412.
Amount in 1921
Value in 2015
$1.00
$13.24
$5.00
$66.21
$10.00
$132
$20.00
$265
$50.00
$662
$100
$1,324
$500
$6,621
$1,000
$13,241
$5,000
$66,206
$10,000
$132,412
$100,000
$1,324,117
$1,000,000
$13,241,173
Inflation by spending category, 1921–2015
Between 1921 and 2015, food rose the most, up 1454.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 279.2%, against 1224.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.79%
$1,324
Food
2.96%
$1,555
Apparel
1.43%
$379
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 2015
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 1921–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$1,324
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $181 by
1966, on its way to $1,324 in 2015; 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: 2015
In 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $1,324; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 2015: $100 is worth $1,324 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2015/