$100 in 1922 is worth $1,200 in 2006,
because prices increased 1100.0% over that period, an average of
3.00% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,200
in 2006
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1100.0%
Average inflation rate
3.00% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,200
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,100
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2006
201.6
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
$100 in 1922 → 2006
$1,200
$100 in 2006 → 1922
$8.33
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2006
Between 1922 and 2006, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 201.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1100.0%, which works out to an average of
3.00% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2006: the 1922 dollar
lost 91.7% of its purchasing power over
these 84 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 2006 at the same ratio, 12.00: $1,000 becomes
$12,000, and $10,000 becomes $120,000.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2006
$1.00
$12.00
$5.00
$60.00
$10.00
$120
$20.00
$240
$50.00
$600
$100
$1,200
$500
$6,000
$1,000
$12,000
$5,000
$60,000
$10,000
$120,000
$100,000
$1,200,000
$1,000,000
$12,000,000
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2006
Between 1922 and 2006, food rose the most, up 1210.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 342.6%, against 1100.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2006, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.00%
$1,200
Food
3.11%
$1,310
Apparel
1.79%
$443
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 2006
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 1922–2006 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
2000–2006
2.66%
17.1%
$1,200
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $180 by
1962, on its way to $1,200 in 2006; 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: 2006
In 2006, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,200; the year's average CPI of 201.6 is the level
behind every 2006 figure on this page.
Inflation was 3.2% in 2006 and gasoline averaged $2.59 a gallon, up 29 cents from 2005. The
median household earned about $48,200 and the median new home cost $246,500, a gain of about
2% after a 13% jump in 2004 and 9% in 2005. National home prices, by the S&P/Case-Shiller
index, peaked in mid-2006. Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chair on
February 1, and on June 29 the Fed raised its policy rate to 5.25%, the last of 17 straight
quarter-point increases. It held there for over a year. A first-class stamp rose to 39 cents in
January, and the federal minimum wage was $5.15 for the ninth full year in a row.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2006: $100 is worth $1,200 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2006/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2006. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2006/