$100 in 1922 is worth $778 in 1990,
because prices increased 678.0% over that period, an average of
3.06% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$778
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
678.0%
Average inflation rate
3.06% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$778
Price difference ($100 base)
$678
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1922 → 1990
$778
$100 in 1990 → 1922
$12.85
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1990
Between 1922 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 678.0%, which works out to an average of
3.06% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.13 buys in 1990: the 1922 dollar
lost 87.1% of its purchasing power over
these 68 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 1990 at the same ratio, 7.78: $1,000 becomes
$7,780, and $10,000 becomes $77,798.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1990
$1.00
$7.78
$5.00
$38.90
$10.00
$77.80
$20.00
$156
$50.00
$389
$100
$778
$500
$3,890
$1,000
$7,780
$5,000
$38,899
$10,000
$77,798
$100,000
$777,976
$1,000,000
$7,779,762
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1990
Between 1922 and 1990, food rose the most, up 788.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 359.6%, against 678.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.06%
$778
Food
3.26%
$889
Apparel
2.27%
$460
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 1990
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 1922–1990 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$778
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $167 by
1957, on its way to $778 in 1990; 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: 1990
In 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $778; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1990: $100 is worth $778 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1990/