$100 in 1922 is worth $811 in 1991,
because prices increased 710.7% over that period, an average of
3.08% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$811
in 1991
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
710.7%
Average inflation rate
3.08% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$811
Price difference ($100 base)
$711
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1991
136.2
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1991
4.21%
$100 in 1922 → 1991
$811
$100 in 1991 → 1922
$12.33
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1991
Between 1922 and 1991, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 136.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 710.7%, which works out to an average of
3.08% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.12 buys in 1991: the 1922 dollar
lost 87.7% of its purchasing power over
these 69 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 1991 at the same ratio, 8.11: $1,000 becomes
$8,107, and $10,000 becomes $81,071.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1991
$1.00
$8.11
$5.00
$40.54
$10.00
$81.07
$20.00
$162
$50.00
$405
$100
$811
$500
$4,054
$1,000
$8,107
$5,000
$40,536
$10,000
$81,071
$100,000
$810,714
$1,000,000
$8,107,143
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1991
Between 1922 and 1991, food rose the most, up 814.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 376.7%, against 710.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1991, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.08%
$811
Food
3.26%
$915
Apparel
2.29%
$477
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 1991
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 1922–1991 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
1990–1991
4.21%
4.2%
$811
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $167 by
1957, on its way to $811 in 1991; 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: 1991
In 1991, prices rose 4.2% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $811; the year's average CPI of 136.2 is the level
behind every 1991 figure on this page.
1991 opened in recession and closed in a slow, uneven recovery. The median household earned
about $30,100 for the year, gas averaged $1.14 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $120,000.
Inflation ran at 4.2% for the year, down from 1990’s oil-driven spike, as the Gulf War ended in
February and crude oil retreated from its autumn highs. The recession itself, dated by the
National Bureau of Economic Research from July 1990 to March 1991, was technically over by
spring, but hiring stayed weak well into 1992, the stretch economists came to call the jobless
recovery. The Federal Reserve kept cutting interest rates through the year to support growth,
reversing the tightening campaign it had run through the late 1980s. In April the federal
minimum wage rose to $4.25 an hour, the second step of an increase from the $3.35 rate that had
held since 1981. The Postal Service had already raised the cost of a first-class stamp to 29
cents that February. It was the first full year of the decade without an oil shock driving
prices, even if the job market took longer to follow.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1991: $100 is worth $811 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1991/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1991. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1991/