$100 in 1921 is worth $1,428 in 2019,
because prices increased 1328.3% over that period, an average of
2.75% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$1,428
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1328.3%
Average inflation rate
2.75% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,428
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,328
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1921 → 2019
$1,428
$100 in 2019 → 1921
$7.00
What happened to prices between 1921 and 2019
Between 1921 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1328.3%, which works out to an average of
2.75% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2019: the 1921 dollar
lost 93.0% of its purchasing power over
these 98 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 2019 at the same ratio, 14.28: $1,000 becomes
$14,283, and $10,000 becomes $142,825.
Amount in 1921
Value in 2019
$1.00
$14.28
$5.00
$71.41
$10.00
$143
$20.00
$286
$50.00
$714
$100
$1,428
$500
$7,141
$1,000
$14,283
$5,000
$71,413
$10,000
$142,825
$100,000
$1,428,251
$1,000,000
$14,282,514
Inflation by spending category, 1921–2019
Between 1921 and 2019, food rose the most, up 1524.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 273.7%, against 1328.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.75%
$1,428
Food
2.89%
$1,625
Apparel
1.35%
$374
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 2019
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 1921–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$1,428
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $226 by
1971, on its way to $1,428 in 2019; 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: 2019
In 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $1,428; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 2019: $100 is worth $1,428 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2019/