$100 in 1922 is worth $160 in 1954,
because prices increased 60.1% over that period, an average of
1.48% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$160
in 1954
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
60.1%
Average inflation rate
1.48% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$160
Price difference ($100 base)
$60.12
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1954
26.9
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1954
0.75%
$100 in 1922 → 1954
$160
$100 in 1954 → 1922
$62.45
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1954
Between 1922 and 1954, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 26.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 60.1%, which works out to an average of
1.48% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.62 buys in 1954: the 1922 dollar
lost 37.5% of its purchasing power over
these 32 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 1954 at the same ratio, 1.60: $1,000 becomes
$1,601, and $10,000 becomes $16,012.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1954
$1.00
$1.60
$5.00
$8.01
$10.00
$16.01
$20.00
$32.02
$50.00
$80.06
$100
$160
$500
$801
$1,000
$1,601
$5,000
$8,006
$10,000
$16,012
$100,000
$160,119
$1,000,000
$1,601,190
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1954
Between 1922 and 1954, food rose the most, up 89.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 59.6%, against 60.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1954, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.48%
$160
Food
2.01%
$189
Apparel
1.47%
$160
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 1954
Prices climbed fastest in the 1940s, averaging 5.58% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1922–1954 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
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$143
1950–1954
2.79%
11.6%
$160
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $83.93 by
1938, on its way to $160 in 1954; 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 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1954
In 1954, prices rose 0.7% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $160; the year's average CPI of 26.9 is the level
behind every 1954 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 0.7% in 1954, extending 1953’s 0.8%
slowdown even as the economy tipped into recession, an early example of
prices continuing to rise through a downturn rather than falling with it.
The National Bureau of Economic Research dates that recession from July
1953 to May 1954, as defense spending fell after the Korean War armistice
and the tighter monetary policy of the year before worked its way through
the economy. The Supreme Court reshaped a different part of American life
that spring: its unanimous May 17 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education
held that “separate but equal” public schools violated the Constitution,
overturning the legal basis for segregated education. Washington also
closed the book on a different fight that year. Following the televised
Army-McCarthy hearings that spring, the Senate voted 67 to 22 on December
2 to condemn Senator Joseph McCarthy’s conduct, ending his dominance of
American politics after four years of anti-communist investigations.
Consumer prices finished 1954 171.7% above their 1913
level, essentially flat with 1953 as the mild recession
held the cost of living in check. First-class postage held at 3 cents,
and the minimum wage stayed at 75 cents an hour.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1954: $100 is worth $160 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1954/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1954. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1954/