$100 in 1922 is worth $264 in 1973,
because prices increased 164.3% over that period, an average of
1.92% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$264
in 1973
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
164.3%
Average inflation rate
1.92% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$264
Price difference ($100 base)
$164
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1973
44.4
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1973
6.22%
$100 in 1922 → 1973
$264
$100 in 1973 → 1922
$37.84
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1973
Between 1922 and 1973, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 44.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 164.3%, which works out to an average of
1.92% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.38 buys in 1973: the 1922 dollar
lost 62.2% of its purchasing power over
these 51 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 1973 at the same ratio, 2.64: $1,000 becomes
$2,643, and $10,000 becomes $26,429.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1973
$1.00
$2.64
$5.00
$13.21
$10.00
$26.43
$20.00
$52.86
$50.00
$132
$100
$264
$500
$1,321
$1,000
$2,643
$5,000
$13,214
$10,000
$26,429
$100,000
$264,286
$1,000,000
$2,642,857
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1973
Between 1922 and 1973, food rose the most, up 223.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 139.3%, against 164.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1973, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.92%
$264
Food
2.33%
$323
Apparel
1.73%
$239
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 1973
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 1922–1973 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
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$231
1970–1973
4.60%
14.4%
$264
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $143 by
1948, on its way to $264 in 1973; 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: 1973
In 1973, prices rose 6.2% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $264; the year's average CPI of 44.4 is the level
behind every 1973 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 6.2% in 1973, nearly double 1972’s 3.2%,
as Nixon’s wage and price controls were phased out through the year and
pressure the controls had been holding back broke loose. The bigger shock
arrived that October, when Arab oil-producing states embargoed exports to the
United States and other supporters of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Crude
oil, which had traded around $3 a barrel, approached $12 by early 1974, and
gas lines became a fixture outside filling stations nationwide. Earlier in
the year, the Paris Peace Accords, signed that January 27, ended direct
American combat in Vietnam and set a 60-day deadline for withdrawing
remaining U.S. troops, even as fighting between North and South Vietnam went
on. Financial markets read the year correctly as a turning point: the Dow
Jones Industrial Average peaked at 1,051.70 on January 11, a level it would
not reach again until 1980, before the oil shock and rising interest rates
dragged it into a two-year bear market. A median household earned $10,512 in
1973, a new home sold for a median $32,500, and gas averaged 38.5 cents a
gallon, still under half of what the embargo’s effects would bring the
following year. Consumer prices stood 348.5% above their
1913 level by year’s end, with the decade’s worst inflation
still ahead.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1973: $100 is worth $264 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1973/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1973. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1973/