$100 in 1922 is worth $320 in 1975,
because prices increased 220.2% over that period, an average of
2.22% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$320
in 1975
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
220.2%
Average inflation rate
2.22% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$320
Price difference ($100 base)
$220
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1975
53.8
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1975
9.13%
$100 in 1922 → 1975
$320
$100 in 1975 → 1922
$31.23
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1975
Between 1922 and 1975, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 53.8.
Cumulatively, prices increased 220.2%, which works out to an average of
2.22% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.31 buys in 1975: the 1922 dollar
lost 68.8% of its purchasing power over
these 53 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 1975 at the same ratio, 3.20: $1,000 becomes
$3,202, and $10,000 becomes $32,024.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1975
$1.00
$3.20
$5.00
$16.01
$10.00
$32.02
$20.00
$64.05
$50.00
$160
$100
$320
$500
$1,601
$1,000
$3,202
$5,000
$16,012
$10,000
$32,024
$100,000
$320,238
$1,000,000
$3,202,381
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1975
Between 1922 and 1975, food rose the most, up 301.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 168.5%, against 220.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1975, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.22%
$320
Food
2.66%
$401
Apparel
1.88%
$269
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 1975
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.76% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1922–1975 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
1970–1975
6.76%
38.7%
$320
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $143 by
1948, on its way to $320 in 1975; 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: 1975
In 1975, prices rose 9.1% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $320; the year's average CPI of 53.8 is the level
behind every 1975 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 9.1% in 1975, easing slightly from 1974’s
11.0% but still running far above anything the country had experienced before
the decade began. The recession that started in November 1973, the deepest
since the Great Depression, bottomed out that March, yet unemployment kept
climbing through the year and touched 9%, a combination of high inflation and
high joblessness that had no precedent in the postwar data. Vietnam ended
that April 30, when North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon and the last
Americans were evacuated by helicopter from the U.S. embassy roof. Fiscal
strain hit closer to home too: New York City, facing bankruptcy after years
of borrowing to paper over budget gaps, asked Washington for help that
October. President Ford’s initial refusal produced the Daily News headline
“Ford to City: Drop Dead,” though he ultimately signed a federal loan package
that December. Amid the gloom, Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft
that April in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to sell a version of the BASIC
programming language for the Altair 8800, one of the first personal
computers sold to hobbyists. A median household earned $11,800 in 1975, a new
home sold for a median $39,300, and first-class postage held at 10 cents,
unchanged since 1974’s increase. Consumer prices stood 443.4%
above their 1913 level, with the decade barely past its
midpoint.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1975: $100 is worth $320 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1975/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1975. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1975/