$100 in 1922 is worth $835 in 1992,
because prices increased 735.1% over that period, an average of
3.08% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$835
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
735.1%
Average inflation rate
3.08% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$835
Price difference ($100 base)
$735
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1922 → 1992
$835
$100 in 1992 → 1922
$11.97
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1992
Between 1922 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 735.1%, which works out to an average of
3.08% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.12 buys in 1992: the 1922 dollar
lost 88.0% of its purchasing power over
these 70 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 1992 at the same ratio, 8.35: $1,000 becomes
$8,351, and $10,000 becomes $83,512.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1992
$1.00
$8.35
$5.00
$41.76
$10.00
$83.51
$20.00
$167
$50.00
$418
$100
$835
$500
$4,176
$1,000
$8,351
$5,000
$41,756
$10,000
$83,512
$100,000
$835,119
$1,000,000
$8,351,190
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1992
Between 1922 and 1992, food rose the most, up 825.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 388.5%, against 735.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.08%
$835
Food
3.23%
$926
Apparel
2.29%
$489
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 1992
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 1922–1992 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
1990–1992
3.61%
7.3%
$835
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $167 by
1957, on its way to $835 in 1992; 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: 1992
In 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $835; the year's average CPI of 140.3 is the level
behind every 1992 figure on this page.
1992 was the year the recovery finally showed up in the numbers, if not yet in hiring. The
median household earned about $30,600, gas averaged $1.13 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly
$121,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, its calmest reading since the mid-1980s, as energy
prices stayed well below their 1990 peak and a slack labor market kept a lid on wages and prices
alike. The Federal Reserve kept cutting its policy rate through the year, reaching about 3% by
September, the lowest in decades, trying to jump-start hiring more than a year after the 1990-91
recession officially ended. The sluggish job market became the defining issue of the November
election, and Bill Clinton unseated incumbent George H.W. Bush, whose approval ratings had
fallen sharply from their post-Gulf War highs. In August, Hurricane Andrew tore through South
Florida, the costliest U.S. hurricane on record at the time, causing tens of billions of dollars
in damage and reshaping how insurers priced catastrophe risk for years afterward. Falling rates,
a costly hurricane, and an election fought over jobs defined a recovery that showed up in the
data well before it showed up in most paychecks.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1992: $100 is worth $835 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1992/