$100 in 1922 is worth $652 in 1986,
because prices increased 552.4% over that period, an average of
2.97% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$652
in 1986
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
552.4%
Average inflation rate
2.97% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$652
Price difference ($100 base)
$552
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1986
109.6
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
$100 in 1922 → 1986
$652
$100 in 1986 → 1922
$15.33
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1986
Between 1922 and 1986, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 109.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 552.4%, which works out to an average of
2.97% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.15 buys in 1986: the 1922 dollar
lost 84.7% of its purchasing power over
these 64 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 1986 at the same ratio, 6.52: $1,000 becomes
$6,524, and $10,000 becomes $65,238.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1986
$1.00
$6.52
$5.00
$32.62
$10.00
$65.24
$20.00
$130
$50.00
$326
$100
$652
$500
$3,262
$1,000
$6,524
$5,000
$32,619
$10,000
$65,238
$100,000
$652,381
$1,000,000
$6,523,810
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1986
Between 1922 and 1986, food rose the most, up 631.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 292.2%, against 552.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1986, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.97%
$652
Food
3.16%
$732
Apparel
2.16%
$392
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 1986
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 1922–1986 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
1980–1986
4.87%
33.0%
$652
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $158 by
1952, on its way to $652 in 1986; 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 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1986
In 1986, prices rose 1.9% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $652; the year's average CPI of 109.6 is the level
behind every 1986 figure on this page.
1986 delivered the decade’s biggest one-year drop in inflation, and it came
almost entirely from a single source: oil. Saudi Arabia abandoned its policy
of restraining output to prop up prices, and world crude collapsed from
about $27 a barrel to under $10 by midyear. Gasoline, which had averaged
$1.12 a gallon in 1985, fell to 86 cents. With energy costs plunging,
headline CPI inflation for the year came in at just 1.9%, the lowest annual
rate since 1965 and a striking bookend to 1980’s 13.5% peak. The relief was
uneven: prices for most goods and services outside energy kept rising at a
moderate pace, so households that didn’t drive much or heat with oil felt
less of the difference. In October, Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of
1986, a bipartisan overhaul that cut the top individual income tax rate from
50% to 28% while closing many deductions and shelters, the broadest rewrite
of the federal tax code since World War II. Between cheap gas and falling
interest rates, 1986 read like proof that the inflationary 1970s were a
closed chapter, six years after the U.S. economy had felt anything but
calm.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1986: $100 is worth $652 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1986/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1986. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1986/