$100 in 1922 is worth $992 in 1999,
because prices increased 891.7% over that period, an average of
3.02% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$992
in 1999
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
891.7%
Average inflation rate
3.02% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$992
Price difference ($100 base)
$892
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 1999
166.6
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 1999
2.21%
$100 in 1922 → 1999
$992
$100 in 1999 → 1922
$10.08
What happened to prices between 1922 and 1999
Between 1922 and 1999, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 166.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 891.7%, which works out to an average of
3.02% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.10 buys in 1999: the 1922 dollar
lost 89.9% of its purchasing power over
these 77 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 1999 at the same ratio, 9.92: $1,000 becomes
$9,917, and $10,000 becomes $99,167.
Amount in 1922
Value in 1999
$1.00
$9.92
$5.00
$49.58
$10.00
$99.17
$20.00
$198
$50.00
$496
$100
$992
$500
$4,958
$1,000
$9,917
$5,000
$49,583
$10,000
$99,167
$100,000
$991,667
$1,000,000
$9,916,667
Inflation by spending category, 1922–1999
Between 1922 and 1999, food rose the most, up 1001.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 386.3%, against 891.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 1999, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.02%
$992
Food
3.16%
$1,101
Apparel
2.08%
$486
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 1999
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 1922–1999 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
1990–1999
2.73%
27.5%
$992
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $180 by
1962, on its way to $992 in 1999; 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: 1999
In 1999, prices rose 2.2% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $992; the year's average CPI of 166.6 is the level
behind every 1999 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $40,700 in 1999, gas averaged $1.17 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $161,000. Inflation ran at 2.2% for the year, ticking back up from 1998’s decade low
as oil prices recovered from their collapse. The decade closed with two changes to the financial
system that would shape the one after it: on January 1, the euro launched as an accounting
currency across 11 European countries, trading alongside national currencies like the French
franc and German mark ahead of physical cash in 2002, and in November, Congress passed the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, tearing down the Depression-era wall between commercial banks, investment
banks, and insurers. Stock markets, meanwhile, were absorbed in a boom of their own: the Nasdaq
surged through the year on soaring internet-stock valuations, and the Federal Reserve raised
interest rates three times in the second half of 1999 partly to cool the exuberance, even as it
pumped extra liquidity into the banking system to guard against any disruption from the Y2K
rollover. A first-class stamp cost 33 cents. Inflation had spent the decade falling from 1990’s
5.4% peak to averages closer to 2-3%, and 1999 closed it out almost exactly where the 1990s as a
whole had settled.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 1999: $100 is worth $992 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1999/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 1999. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-1999/