$100 in 1922 is worth $339 in 1976,
because prices increased 238.7% over that period, an average of
2.28% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$339
in 1976
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
238.7%
Average inflation rate
2.28% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$339
Price difference ($100 base)
$239
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1976
56.9
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
$100 in 1922 → 1976
$339
$100 in 1976 → 1922
$29.53
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1976
Between 1922 and 1976, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 56.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 238.7%, which works out to an average of
2.28% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.30 buys in 1976: the 1922 dollar
lost 70.5% of its purchasing power over
these 54 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 1976 at the same ratio, 3.39: $1,000 becomes
$3,387, and $10,000 becomes $33,869.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1976
$1.00
$3.39
$5.00
$16.93
$10.00
$33.87
$20.00
$67.74
$50.00
$169
$100
$339
$500
$1,693
$1,000
$3,387
$5,000
$16,935
$10,000
$33,869
$100,000
$338,690
$1,000,000
$3,386,905
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1976
Between 1922 and 1976, food rose the most, up 313.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 178.5%, against 238.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1976, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.28%
$339
Food
2.66%
$413
Apparel
1.91%
$279
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 1976
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.59% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1922–1976 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
1970–1976
6.59%
46.6%
$339
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $143 by
1948, on its way to $339 in 1976; 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: 1976
In 1976, prices rose 5.8% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $339; the year's average CPI of 56.9 is the level
behind every 1976 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 5.8% in 1976, the calmest pace since 1972,
as the economy pulled out of the 1973-75 recession and price growth settled
to roughly half its 1974 peak. The recovery gave Americans
room to celebrate: tall ships filled New York Harbor and fireworks lit cities
nationwide on July 4 for the country’s bicentennial, a rare moment of shared
celebration after Vietnam and Watergate. Politically, Jimmy Carter, a former
Georgia governor running as a Washington outsider, defeated incumbent Gerald
Ford that November, campaigning on restoring trust in government and bringing
down inflation and unemployment together. In a California garage, Steve
Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer that April to
sell the Apple I, a bare circuit board aimed at electronics hobbyists, a
business that looked far from consequential at the time. First-class
postage, which had risen to 13 cents that past December 31, held there
through the year, the longest stretch without a rate change since the Postal
Service’s creation. A median household earned $12,686 in 1976, a new home
sold for a median $44,200, and gas averaged 59 cents a gallon. Consumer
prices stood 474.7% above their 1913 level, a calm interlude
before inflation turned back up.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1976: $100 is worth $339 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1976/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1976. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1976/