$100 in 1922 is worth $193 in 1966,
because prices increased 92.9% over that period, an average of
1.50% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$193
in 1966
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
92.9%
Average inflation rate
1.50% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$193
Price difference ($100 base)
$92.86
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1966
32.4
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1966
2.86%
$100 in 1922 → 1966
$193
$100 in 1966 → 1922
$51.85
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1966
Between 1922 and 1966, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 32.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 92.9%, which works out to an average of
1.50% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.52 buys in 1966: the 1922 dollar
lost 48.1% of its purchasing power over
these 44 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 1966 at the same ratio, 1.93: $1,000 becomes
$1,929, and $10,000 becomes $19,286.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1966
$1.00
$1.93
$5.00
$9.64
$10.00
$19.29
$20.00
$38.57
$50.00
$96.43
$100
$193
$500
$964
$1,000
$1,929
$5,000
$9,643
$10,000
$19,286
$100,000
$192,857
$1,000,000
$1,928,571
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1966
Between 1922 and 1966, food rose the most, up 126.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 81.5%, against 92.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1966, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.50%
$193
Food
1.88%
$227
Apparel
1.36%
$181
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 1966
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 1922–1966 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
1960–1966
1.52%
9.5%
$193
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $105 by
1944, on its way to $193 in 1966; 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: 1966
In 1966, prices rose 2.9% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $193; the year's average CPI of 32.4 is the level
behind every 1966 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 2.9% in 1966, nearly double 1965’s
1.6% as Vietnam War spending kept climbing without an offsetting tax
increase, pushing the economy closer to capacity and prices higher along
with it. Medicare coverage took effect that July 1, extending federal
health insurance to roughly 19 million Americans age 65 and older under
the program signed into law the year before. The Federal Reserve had
already moved to cool the overheating economy, raising its discount rate
the previous December over White House objections; the tightening carried
into 1966 as the first postwar credit crunch, freezing parts of the
housing and municipal bond markets even as inflation kept climbing. Congress widened
the wage floor’s reach that September 23, when the Fair Labor Standards
Amendments of 1966 set a $1.40 minimum wage effective the following
February and extended coverage to roughly 9 million more workers in
retail, hospitals, schools, and other services not previously covered.
Consumer prices finished 1966 227.3% above their 1913
level. First-class postage held at 5 cents, and the minimum wage stayed at
$1.25 an hour for the rest of the year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1966: $100 is worth $193 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1966/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1966. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1966/