$100 in 1922 is worth $1,522 in 2019,
because prices increased 1421.8% over that period, an average of
2.85% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,522
in 2019
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1421.8%
Average inflation rate
2.85% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,522
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,422
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2019
255.657
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2019
1.81%
$100 in 1922 → 2019
$1,522
$100 in 2019 → 1922
$6.57
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2019
Between 1922 and 2019, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 255.657.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1421.8%, which works out to an average of
2.85% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2019: the 1922 dollar
lost 93.4% of its purchasing power over
these 97 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 2019 at the same ratio, 15.22: $1,000 becomes
$15,218, and $10,000 becomes $152,177.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2019
$1.00
$15.22
$5.00
$76.09
$10.00
$152
$20.00
$304
$50.00
$761
$100
$1,522
$500
$7,609
$1,000
$15,218
$5,000
$76,088
$10,000
$152,177
$100,000
$1,521,768
$1,000,000
$15,217,679
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2019
Between 1922 and 2019, food rose the most, up 1633.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 359.5%, against 1421.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2019, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.85%
$1,522
Food
2.98%
$1,734
Apparel
1.58%
$459
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 2019
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 1922–2019 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
2010–2019
1.78%
17.2%
$1,522
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $249 by
1972, on its way to $1,522 in 2019; 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: 2019
In 2019, prices rose 1.8% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,522; the year's average CPI of 255.657 is the level
behind every 2019 figure on this page.
2019 was the last ordinary year before COVID-19. Consumer prices rose 1.8%,
slightly under the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with gasoline averaging
$2.60 a gallon. Median household income jumped to $68,703, the highest on
record up to that point, and the median new home sold for about $328,000. A
first-class stamp rose to 55 cents.
The Fed reversed course. After four increases in 2018, it cut rates three
times, to 1.50–1.75%, citing slower global growth, trade tensions, and low
inflation. In July the expansion that began in June 2009 became the longest in
U.S. records, and in August the yield curve briefly inverted, a signal
investors read as a recession warning.
For workers at the bottom of the pay scale, 2019 marked a milestone of a
different kind. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25 and reached its tenth
year without an increase, the longest gap since the wage was first set. Because
prices had climbed about 19% since it was last raised in 2009, its buying power
was lower than at any point in that span.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2019: $100 is worth $1,522 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2019/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2019. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2019/