$100 in 1922 is worth $490 in 1980,
because prices increased 390.5% over that period, an average of
2.78% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$490
in 1980
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
390.5%
Average inflation rate
2.78% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$490
Price difference ($100 base)
$390
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1980
82.4
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1980
13.50%
$100 in 1922 → 1980
$490
$100 in 1980 → 1922
$20.39
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1980
Between 1922 and 1980, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 82.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 390.5%, which works out to an average of
2.78% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.20 buys in 1980: the 1922 dollar
lost 79.6% of its purchasing power over
these 58 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 1980 at the same ratio, 4.90: $1,000 becomes
$4,905, and $10,000 becomes $49,048.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1980
$1.00
$4.90
$5.00
$24.52
$10.00
$49.05
$20.00
$98.10
$50.00
$245
$100
$490
$500
$2,452
$1,000
$4,905
$5,000
$24,524
$10,000
$49,048
$100,000
$490,476
$1,000,000
$4,904,762
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1980
Between 1922 and 1980, food rose the most, up 482.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 236.7%, against 390.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1980, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.78%
$490
Food
3.08%
$583
Apparel
2.12%
$337
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 1980
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1922–1980 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
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$490
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $143 by
1950, on its way to $490 in 1980; 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: 1980
In 1980, prices rose 13.5% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $490; the year's average CPI of 82.4 is the level
behind every 1980 figure on this page.
1980 sat at the very peak of the Great Inflation. Prices rose 13.5% in that
single year, mortgage rates were climbing toward 16%, and the Federal Reserve
under Paul Volcker was administering the painful interest-rate medicine that
would finally break the inflationary spiral, at the cost of the deep 1981–82
recession. No single year looms larger in how Americans think about inflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1980: $100 is worth $490 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1980/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1980. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1980/