$100 in 1922 is worth $1,916 in 2025,
because prices increased 1816.3% over that period, an average of
2.91% a year.
$100 in 1922 has
the same buying power as
$1,916
in 2025
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1816.3%
Average inflation rate
2.91% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,916
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,816
CPI in 1922
16.8
CPI in 2025
321.943
Inflation in 1922
-6.15%
Inflation in 2025
2.63%
$100 in 1922 → 2025
$1,916
$100 in 2025 → 1922
$5.22
What happened to prices between 1922 and 2025
Between 1922 and 2025, the Consumer Price Index went from 16.8 to 321.943.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1816.3%, which works out to an average of
2.91% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1922 bought what
$0.05 buys in 2025: the 1922 dollar
lost 94.8% of its purchasing power over
these 103 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 2025 at the same ratio, 19.16: $1,000 becomes
$19,163, and $10,000 becomes $191,633.
Amount in 1922
Value in 2025
$1.00
$19.16
$5.00
$95.82
$10.00
$192
$20.00
$383
$50.00
$958
$100
$1,916
$500
$9,582
$1,000
$19,163
$5,000
$95,816
$10,000
$191,633
$100,000
$1,916,327
$1,000,000
$19,163,274
Inflation by spending category, 1922–2025
Between 1922 and 2025, food rose the most, up 2178.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 386.3%, against 1816.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1922
spending costs in 2025, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1922 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.91%
$1,916
Food
3.08%
$2,279
Apparel
1.55%
$486
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 2025
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 1922–2025 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
2020–2025
4.46%
24.4%
$1,916
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1922
$100 from 1922 had already become $249 by
1972, on its way to $1,916 in 2025; 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: 2025
In 2025, prices rose 2.6% and $100 from 1922 had the buying
power of $1,916; the year's average CPI of 321.943 is the level
behind every 2025 figure on this page.
2025 was a year of trade policy and data disruptions rather than an
inflation surge. Consumer prices rose 2.6% on average, a step down from
2024’s 2.9% and well below the 8.0% of 2022. Tariffs announced in April
pushed up prices for some imported goods, including furniture, apparel, and
auto parts, but the effect on the overall index was smaller than many
forecasters feared at the start of the year, in part because retailers
absorbed some of the cost and demand for services stayed steady.
The Federal Reserve held its policy rate steady through the first half of the
year, then began cutting again in September, lowering it in three quarter-point
steps to 3.50–3.75% by December.
The federal government shutdown that began October 1 lasted 43 days, and the
Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish a CPI for October 2025 because the
survey data could not be collected. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 78 cents in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1922 to 2025: $100 is worth $1,916 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2025/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1922 to 2025. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1922-to-2025/