$100 in 1921 is worth $1,403 in 2018,
because prices increased 1302.8% over that period, an average of
2.76% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$1,403
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1302.8%
Average inflation rate
2.76% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,403
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,303
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1921 → 2018
$1,403
$100 in 2018 → 1921
$7.13
What happened to prices between 1921 and 2018
Between 1921 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1302.8%, which works out to an average of
2.76% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2018: the 1921 dollar
lost 92.9% of its purchasing power over
these 97 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 2018 at the same ratio, 14.03: $1,000 becomes
$14,028, and $10,000 becomes $140,283.
Amount in 1921
Value in 2018
$1.00
$14.03
$5.00
$70.14
$10.00
$140
$20.00
$281
$50.00
$701
$100
$1,403
$500
$7,014
$1,000
$14,028
$5,000
$70,142
$10,000
$140,283
$100,000
$1,402,832
$1,000,000
$14,028,324
Inflation by spending category, 1921–2018
Between 1921 and 2018, food rose the most, up 1494.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 278.5%, against 1302.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.76%
$1,403
Food
2.90%
$1,595
Apparel
1.38%
$378
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 2018
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 1921–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$1,403
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $226 by
1971, on its way to $1,403 in 2018; 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: 2018
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $1,403; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 2018: $100 is worth $1,403 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2018/