$100 in 1922 is worth $1,411 in 2015,
because prices increased 1310.8% over that period, an average of
2.89% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,411
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1310.8%
Average inflation rate
2.89% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,411
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,311
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1922 → 2015
$1,411
$100 in 2015 → 1922
$7.09
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2015
Between 1922 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1310.8%, which works out to an average of
2.89% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2015: the 1922 dollar
lost 92.9% of its purchasing power over
these 93 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 2015 at the same ratio, 14.11: $1,000 becomes
$14,108, and $10,000 becomes $141,082.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2015
$1.00
$14.11
$5.00
$70.54
$10.00
$141
$20.00
$282
$50.00
$705
$100
$1,411
$500
$7,054
$1,000
$14,108
$5,000
$70,541
$10,000
$141,082
$100,000
$1,410,815
$1,000,000
$14,108,155
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2015
Between 1922 and 2015, food rose the most, up 1559.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 366.3%, against 1310.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.89%
$1,411
Food
3.07%
$1,659
Apparel
1.67%
$466
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 2015
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 1922–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$1,411
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $199 by
1967, on its way to $1,411 in 2015; 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: 2015
In 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,411; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2015: $100 is worth $1,411 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2015/