$100 in 1922 is worth $97.02 in 1942,
because prices declined 3.0% over that period, an average of
0.15% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$97.02
in 1942
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
-3.0%
Average inflation rate
-0.15% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$97.02
Price difference ($100 base)
-$2.98
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1942
16.3
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1942
10.88%
$100 in 1922 → 1942
$97.02
$100 in 1942 → 1922
$103
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1942
Between 1922 and 1942, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 16.3.
Cumulatively, prices declined 3.0%, which works out to an average of
-0.15% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$1.03 buys in 1942: the 1922 dollar
gained 3.1% in purchasing power over
these 20 years.
Consumer prices fell another 6.1% in 1922, the second straight year of
decline, even as the broader economy climbed out of the Depression of
1920-21 and industrial production rebounded. The CPI had now given back
roughly a third of its wartime runup, though it stayed well above the
1913 baseline. Congress moved to shield that recovery from
foreign competition: the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act, signed September 21,
raised duties on hundreds of imported goods to some of the highest levels in
U.S. history, a policy meant to protect farmers and manufacturers still
adjusting to postwar prices. Labor tension flared even as prices fell.
Roughly half a million bituminous coal miners struck that April over wage
cuts employers had imposed as prices dropped, and hundreds of thousands of
railroad shop workers walked out in July in a separate dispute over pay and
work rules, together the largest strike wave since 1919. Both disputes
dragged on for months and drew federal mediation before ending without full
concessions for the workers. First-class postage remained at 2 cents.
Every 1922 amount converts to 1942 at the same ratio, 0.97: $1,000 becomes
$970, and $10,000 becomes $9,702.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1942
$1.00
$0.97
$5.00
$4.85
$10.00
$9.70
$20.00
$19.40
$50.00
$48.51
$100
$97.02
$500
$485
$1,000
$970
$5,000
$4,851
$10,000
$9,702
$100,000
$97,024
$1,000,000
$970,238
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1942
Between 1922 and 1942, food rose the most, up 3.4%, while apparel fell 1.1%, against 3.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1942, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
-0.15%
$97.02
Food
0.17%
$103
Apparel
-0.06%
$98.89
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1922: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1922 to 1942
Prices climbed fastest in the 1940s, averaging 7.90% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1922–1942 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1922, at end
1922–1930
-0.07%
-0.6%
$99.40
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$83.33
1940–1942
7.90%
16.4%
$97.02
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $81.55 by
1932, on its way to $97.02 in 1942; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 10.9% in 1942, and prices fell 9.9% in 1932, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 1942, prices rose 10.9% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $97.02; the year's average CPI of 16.3 is the level
behind every 1942 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 10.9% in 1942, up from 1941’s already
rapid 5.0% and the fastest increase since 1920, as the economy’s crash
conversion to war production collided with shrinking supplies of civilian
goods. The government tried to contain it: the General Maximum Price
Regulation, effective May 18 and known as “General Max,” froze most retail
prices at their highest March level, the broadest price control Washington
had ever attempted. Rationing followed close behind. Sugar rationing began
that May and gasoline rationing went nationwide in December, the leading
edge of a system that would eventually cover meat, coffee, shoes, tires, and
dozens of other goods before the war ended. The year’s other defining
wartime measure had nothing to do with prices. Executive Order 9066, signed
February 19, authorized the military to remove more than 110,000 Japanese
Americans, most of them U.S. citizens, from the West Coast and hold them in
inland internment camps for the war’s duration, one of the era’s starkest
violations of civil liberties. Even with price controls in place, consumer
prices climbed more than 10% for the first time since 1920, leaving the CPI
64.6% above its 1913 level. First-class postage held at 3
cents, and the minimum wage stayed at 30 cents an hour.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1942: $100 is worth $97.02 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1942/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1942. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1942/