$100 in 1922 is worth $1,071 in 2002,
because prices increased 970.8% over that period, an average of
3.01% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,071
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
970.8%
Average inflation rate
3.01% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,071
Price difference ($100 base)
$971
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1922 → 2002
$1,071
$100 in 2002 → 1922
$9.34
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2002
Between 1922 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 970.8%, which works out to an average of
3.01% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.09 buys in 2002: the 1922 dollar
lost 90.7% of its purchasing power over
these 80 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 2002 at the same ratio, 10.71: $1,000 becomes
$10,708, and $10,000 becomes $107,083.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2002
$1.00
$10.71
$5.00
$53.54
$10.00
$107
$20.00
$214
$50.00
$535
$100
$1,071
$500
$5,354
$1,000
$10,708
$5,000
$53,542
$10,000
$107,083
$100,000
$1,070,833
$1,000,000
$10,708,333
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2002
Between 1922 and 2002, food rose the most, up 1082.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 359.3%, against 970.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.01%
$1,071
Food
3.14%
$1,183
Apparel
1.92%
$459
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 2002
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 1922–2002 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
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$1,071
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $180 by
1962, on its way to $1,071 in 2002; 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: 2002
In 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,071; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2002: $100 is worth $1,071 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2002/