$100 in 1922 is worth $293 in 1974,
because prices increased 193.5% over that period, an average of
2.09% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$293
in 1974
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
193.5%
Average inflation rate
2.09% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$293
Price difference ($100 base)
$193
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1974
49.3
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
$100 in 1922 → 1974
$293
$100 in 1974 → 1922
$34.08
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1974
Between 1922 and 1974, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 49.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 193.5%, which works out to an average of
2.09% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.34 buys in 1974: the 1922 dollar
lost 65.9% of its purchasing power over
these 52 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 1974 at the same ratio, 2.93: $1,000 becomes
$2,935, and $10,000 becomes $29,345.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1974
$1.00
$2.93
$5.00
$14.67
$10.00
$29.35
$20.00
$58.69
$50.00
$147
$100
$293
$500
$1,467
$1,000
$2,935
$5,000
$14,673
$10,000
$29,345
$100,000
$293,452
$1,000,000
$2,934,524
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1974
Between 1922 and 1974, food rose the most, up 269.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 157.0%, against 193.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1974, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.09%
$293
Food
2.55%
$370
Apparel
1.83%
$257
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 1974
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.17% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1922–1974 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
1970–1974
6.17%
27.1%
$293
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $143 by
1948, on its way to $293 in 1974; 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: 1974
In 1974, prices rose 11.0% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $293; the year's average CPI of 49.3 is the level
behind every 1974 figure on this page.
1974 was the year the postwar economy broke its old rules. Consumer prices
rose 11.0%, the fastest annual increase since 1947, as the Arab oil embargo
that ran from October 1973 to March 1974 roughly quadrupled the price of
crude oil worldwide. Gasoline, which had averaged 38.5 cents a gallon in
1973, jumped to 53.2 cents, and shortages forced many states into odd-even
rationing at the pump. Nixon’s wage and price controls, in place in some form
since 1971, expired at the end of April, removing the last brake on prices
just as the oil shock hit. Nixon himself resigned in August over Watergate,
and Gerald Ford’s response to inflation, a voluntary “Whip Inflation Now”
campaign built around lapel buttons, became a symbol of how little
conventional politics could do against the problem. Prices kept climbing even
as the economy weakened: a recession that started in November 1973 dragged
on, the Dow fell to a bear-market bottom of 577.60 in December, and
unemployment was already rising toward the 9% it would reach in 1975. The
combination of rising prices and a shrinking economy gave the decade its
name: stagflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1974: $100 is worth $293 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1974/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1974. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1974/