$100 in 1922 is worth $955 in 1997,
because prices increased 855.4% over that period, an average of
3.05% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$955
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
855.4%
Average inflation rate
3.05% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$955
Price difference ($100 base)
$855
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1922 → 1997
$955
$100 in 1997 → 1922
$10.47
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1997
Between 1922 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 855.4%, which works out to an average of
3.05% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.10 buys in 1997: the 1922 dollar
lost 89.5% of its purchasing power over
these 75 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 1997 at the same ratio, 9.55: $1,000 becomes
$9,554, and $10,000 becomes $95,536.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1997
$1.00
$9.55
$5.00
$47.77
$10.00
$95.54
$20.00
$191
$50.00
$478
$100
$955
$500
$4,777
$1,000
$9,554
$5,000
$47,768
$10,000
$95,536
$100,000
$955,357
$1,000,000
$9,553,571
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1997
Between 1922 and 1997, food rose the most, up 955.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 392.2%, against 855.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.05%
$955
Food
3.19%
$1,056
Apparel
2.15%
$492
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 1997
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 1922–1997 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
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$955
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $167 by
1957, on its way to $955 in 1997; 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: 1997
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $955; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1997: $100 is worth $955 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1997/