$100 in 1922 is worth $1,429 in 2016,
because prices increased 1328.6% over that period, an average of
2.87% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,429
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1328.6%
Average inflation rate
2.87% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,429
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,329
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1922 → 2016
$1,429
$100 in 2016 → 1922
$7.00
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2016
Between 1922 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1328.6%, which works out to an average of
2.87% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2016: the 1922 dollar
lost 93.0% of its purchasing power over
these 94 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 2016 at the same ratio, 14.29: $1,000 becomes
$14,286, and $10,000 becomes $142,861.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2016
$1.00
$14.29
$5.00
$71.43
$10.00
$143
$20.00
$286
$50.00
$714
$100
$1,429
$500
$7,143
$1,000
$14,286
$5,000
$71,431
$10,000
$142,861
$100,000
$1,428,613
$1,000,000
$14,286,131
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2016
Between 1922 and 2016, food rose the most, up 1564.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 366.8%, against 1328.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.87%
$1,429
Food
3.04%
$1,664
Apparel
1.65%
$467
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 2016
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 1922–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$1,429
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $199 by
1967, on its way to $1,429 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,429; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2016: $100 is worth $1,429 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2016/