$100 in 1922 is worth $1,054 in 2001,
because prices increased 954.2% over that period, an average of
3.03% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,054
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
954.2%
Average inflation rate
3.03% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,054
Price difference ($100 base)
$954
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1922 → 2001
$1,054
$100 in 2001 → 1922
$9.49
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2001
Between 1922 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 954.2%, which works out to an average of
3.03% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.09 buys in 2001: the 1922 dollar
lost 90.5% of its purchasing power over
these 79 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 2001 at the same ratio, 10.54: $1,000 becomes
$10,542, and $10,000 becomes $105,417.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2001
$1.00
$10.54
$5.00
$52.71
$10.00
$105
$20.00
$211
$50.00
$527
$100
$1,054
$500
$5,271
$1,000
$10,542
$5,000
$52,708
$10,000
$105,417
$100,000
$1,054,167
$1,000,000
$10,541,667
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2001
Between 1922 and 2001, food rose the most, up 1061.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 371.5%, against 954.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.03%
$1,054
Food
3.15%
$1,162
Apparel
1.98%
$471
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 2001
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 1922–2001 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,025
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$1,054
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $180 by
1962, on its way to $1,054 in 2001; 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: 2001
In 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,054; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2001: $100 is worth $1,054 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2001/