$100 in 1922 is worth $934 in 1996,
because prices increased 833.9% over that period, an average of
3.07% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$934
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
833.9%
Average inflation rate
3.07% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$934
Price difference ($100 base)
$834
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1922 → 1996
$934
$100 in 1996 → 1922
$10.71
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1996
Between 1922 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 833.9%, which works out to an average of
3.07% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.11 buys in 1996: the 1922 dollar
lost 89.3% of its purchasing power over
these 74 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 1996 at the same ratio, 9.34: $1,000 becomes
$9,339, and $10,000 becomes $93,393.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1996
$1.00
$9.34
$5.00
$46.70
$10.00
$93.39
$20.00
$187
$50.00
$467
$100
$934
$500
$4,670
$1,000
$9,339
$5,000
$46,696
$10,000
$93,393
$100,000
$933,929
$1,000,000
$9,339,286
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1996
Between 1922 and 1996, food rose the most, up 928.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 387.8%, against 833.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.07%
$934
Food
3.20%
$1,029
Apparel
2.16%
$488
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 1996
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 1922–1996 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
1990–1996
3.09%
20.0%
$934
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $167 by
1957, on its way to $934 in 1996; 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: 1996
In 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $934; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1996: $100 is worth $934 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1996/