$100 in 1922 is worth $1,814 in 2023,
because prices increased 1713.7% over that period, an average of
2.91% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,814
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1713.7%
Average inflation rate
2.91% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,814
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,714
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1922 → 2023
$1,814
$100 in 2023 → 1922
$5.51
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2023
Between 1922 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1713.7%, which works out to an average of
2.91% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2023: the 1922 dollar
lost 94.5% of its purchasing power over
these 101 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 2023 at the same ratio, 18.14: $1,000 becomes
$18,137, and $10,000 becomes $181,370.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2023
$1.00
$18.14
$5.00
$90.69
$10.00
$181
$20.00
$363
$50.00
$907
$100
$1,814
$500
$9,069
$1,000
$18,137
$5,000
$90,685
$10,000
$181,370
$100,000
$1,813,702
$1,000,000
$18,137,024
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2023
Between 1922 and 2023, food rose the most, up 2067.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 383.6%, against 1713.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.91%
$1,814
Food
3.09%
$2,168
Apparel
1.57%
$484
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 2023
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 1922–2023 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$1,541
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$1,814
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $249 by
1972, on its way to $1,814 in 2023; 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: 2023
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,814; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2023: $100 is worth $1,814 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2023/