$100 in 1922 is worth $185 in 1964,
because prices increased 84.5% over that period, an average of
1.47% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$185
in 1964
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
84.5%
Average inflation rate
1.47% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$185
Price difference ($100 base)
$84.52
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1964
31
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1964
1.31%
$100 in 1922 → 1964
$185
$100 in 1964 → 1922
$54.19
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1964
Between 1922 and 1964, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 31.
Cumulatively, prices increased 84.5%, which works out to an average of
1.47% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.54 buys in 1964: the 1922 dollar
lost 45.8% of its purchasing power over
these 42 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 1964 at the same ratio, 1.85: $1,000 becomes
$1,845, and $10,000 becomes $18,452.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1964
$1.00
$1.85
$5.00
$9.23
$10.00
$18.45
$20.00
$36.90
$50.00
$92.26
$100
$185
$500
$923
$1,000
$1,845
$5,000
$9,226
$10,000
$18,452
$100,000
$184,524
$1,000,000
$1,845,238
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1964
Between 1922 and 1964, food rose the most, up 111.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 75.2%, against 84.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1964, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.47%
$185
Food
1.80%
$211
Apparel
1.34%
$175
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 1964
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 1922–1964 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
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$176
1960–1964
1.16%
4.7%
$185
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $97.02 by
1942, on its way to $185 in 1964; 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: 1964
In 1964, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $185; the year's average CPI of 31 is the level
behind every 1964 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 1.3% in 1964, matching 1963’s pace
even as a large federal tax cut took effect that year. The Revenue Act of
1964, signed February 26, lowered individual and corporate tax rates
significantly, the cut Kennedy had proposed the year before his death and
Johnson pushed through Congress as a Keynesian bet that lower taxes would
spur enough growth without stoking prices. Congress reshaped civil rights
law that July 2, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination
based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in employment
and public accommodations, the most sweeping civil rights legislation
since Reconstruction. Vietnam policy shifted that August, when Congress
passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution after reported attacks on U.S. Navy
destroyers, authorizing Johnson to use military force in Vietnam without
a formal declaration of war. American pop culture changed that February
too: the Beatles landed at New York’s Kennedy Airport and played the Ed
Sullivan Show two days later for an estimated 73 million viewers,
igniting the “British Invasion.” Consumer prices finished 1964 213.1%
above their 1913 level. First-class postage held at 5
cents, and the minimum wage stayed at $1.25 an hour.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1964: $100 is worth $185 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1964/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1964. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1964/