$100 in 1922 is worth $1,367 in 2012,
because prices increased 1266.6% over that period, an average of
2.95% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,367
in 2012
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1266.6%
Average inflation rate
2.95% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,367
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,267
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2012
229.594
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2012
2.07%
$100 in 1922 → 2012
$1,367
$100 in 2012 → 1922
$7.32
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2012
Between 1922 and 2012, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 229.594.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1266.6%, which works out to an average of
2.95% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2012: the 1922 dollar
lost 92.7% of its purchasing power over
these 90 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 2012 at the same ratio, 13.67: $1,000 becomes
$13,666, and $10,000 becomes $136,663.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2012
$1.00
$13.67
$5.00
$68.33
$10.00
$137
$20.00
$273
$50.00
$683
$100
$1,367
$500
$6,833
$1,000
$13,666
$5,000
$68,332
$10,000
$136,663
$100,000
$1,366,631
$1,000,000
$13,666,310
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2012
Between 1922 and 2012, food rose the most, up 1469.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 367.6%, against 1266.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2012, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.95%
$1,367
Food
3.11%
$1,569
Apparel
1.73%
$468
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 2012
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 1922–2012 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,298
2010–2012
2.61%
5.3%
$1,367
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $199 by
1967, on its way to $1,367 in 2012; 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: 2012
In 2012, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,367; the year's average CPI of 229.594 is the level
behind every 2012 figure on this page.
2012 put a number on what the Federal Reserve was aiming for. In January the
Fed announced a 2% inflation target, and consumer prices rose 2.1% for the
year, almost exactly on it. Gasoline averaged $3.62 a gallon, another annual
high, but the pace of increase cooled from 2011’s 3.2% as food and core prices
grew more slowly.
The bigger story was housing and jobs. Home prices began to recover, and the
median new home sold for about $245,200, up from $227,200 the year before.
Median household income was $51,017. The federal minimum wage held at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 45 cents.
In September the Fed started a third round of asset purchases, this one with
no fixed end date, aimed at lowering unemployment. Overseas, the European
Central Bank’s July pledge to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro calmed
bond markets. A summer drought across the Midwest drove corn and soybean
prices to records, a shock that reached grocery shelves only partly, because
most of what shoppers pay for food covers processing and transport rather than
raw crops.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2012: $100 is worth $1,367 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2012/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2012. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2012/