$100 in 1922 is worth $1,459 in 2017,
because prices increased 1359.0% over that period, an average of
2.86% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,459
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1359.0%
Average inflation rate
2.86% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,459
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,359
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1922 → 2017
$1,459
$100 in 2017 → 1922
$6.85
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2017
Between 1922 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1359.0%, which works out to an average of
2.86% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2017: the 1922 dollar
lost 93.1% of its purchasing power over
these 95 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 2017 at the same ratio, 14.59: $1,000 becomes
$14,590, and $10,000 becomes $145,905.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2017
$1.00
$14.59
$5.00
$72.95
$10.00
$146
$20.00
$292
$50.00
$730
$100
$1,459
$500
$7,295
$1,000
$14,590
$5,000
$72,952
$10,000
$145,905
$100,000
$1,459,048
$1,000,000
$14,590,476
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2017
Between 1922 and 2017, food rose the most, up 1578.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 365.2%, against 1359.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.86%
$1,459
Food
3.01%
$1,678
Apparel
1.63%
$465
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 2017
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 1922–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$1,459
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $199 by
1967, on its way to $1,459 in 2017; 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: 2017
In 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,459; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2017: $100 is worth $1,459 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2017/