$100 in 1922 is worth $907 in 1995,
because prices increased 807.1% over that period, an average of
3.07% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$907
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
807.1%
Average inflation rate
3.07% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$907
Price difference ($100 base)
$807
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1922 → 1995
$907
$100 in 1995 → 1922
$11.02
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1995
Between 1922 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 807.1%, which works out to an average of
3.07% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.11 buys in 1995: the 1922 dollar
lost 89.0% of its purchasing power over
these 73 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 1995 at the same ratio, 9.07: $1,000 becomes
$9,071, and $10,000 becomes $90,714.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1995
$1.00
$9.07
$5.00
$45.36
$10.00
$90.71
$20.00
$181
$50.00
$454
$100
$907
$500
$4,536
$1,000
$9,071
$5,000
$45,357
$10,000
$90,714
$100,000
$907,143
$1,000,000
$9,071,429
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1995
Between 1922 and 1995, food rose the most, up 896.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 388.9%, against 807.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.07%
$907
Food
3.20%
$996
Apparel
2.20%
$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 1995
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 1922–1995 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
1990–1995
3.12%
16.6%
$907
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $167 by
1957, on its way to $907 in 1995; 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: 1995
In 1995, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $907; the year's average CPI of 152.4 is the level
behind every 1995 figure on this page.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1995: $100 is worth $907 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1995/