$100 in 1921 is worth $1,702 in 2023,
because prices increased 1602.2% over that period, an average of
2.82% a year.
$100 in 1921 has
the same buying power as
$1,702
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1602.2%
Average inflation rate
2.82% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,702
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,602
CPI in 1921
17.9
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1921
-10.50%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1921 → 2023
$1,702
$100 in 2023 → 1921
$5.87
What happened to prices between 1921 and 2023
Between 1921 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.9 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1602.2%, which works out to an average of
2.82% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1921 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2023: the 1921 dollar
lost 94.1% of its purchasing power over
these 102 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 2023 at the same ratio, 17.02: $1,000 becomes
$17,022, and $10,000 becomes $170,225.
Amount in 1921
Value in 2023
$1.00
$17.02
$5.00
$85.11
$10.00
$170
$20.00
$340
$50.00
$851
$100
$1,702
$500
$8,511
$1,000
$17,022
$5,000
$85,112
$10,000
$170,225
$100,000
$1,702,246
$1,000,000
$17,022,458
Inflation by spending category, 1921–2023
Between 1921 and 2023, food rose the most, up 1931.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 293.3%, against 1602.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1921
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1921 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.82%
$1,702
Food
3.00%
$2,031
Apparel
1.35%
$393
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 2023
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 1921–2023 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$1,446
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$1,702
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1921
$100 from 1921 had already become $226 by
1971, on its way to $1,702 in 2023; 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: 2023
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1921 had the buying
power of $1,702; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1921 to 2023: $100 is worth $1,702 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1921 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1921-to-2023/