$100 in 1923 is worth $1,259 in 2008,
because prices increased 1159.1% over that period, an average of
3.02% a year.
$100 in 1923 has
the same buying power as
$1,259
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1159.1%
Average inflation rate
3.02% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,259
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,159
CPI in 1923
17.1
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1923
1.79%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1923 → 2008
$1,259
$100 in 2008 → 1923
$7.94
What happened to prices between 1923 and 2008
Between 1923 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1159.1%, which works out to an average of
3.02% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1923 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2008: the 1923 dollar
lost 92.1% of its purchasing power over
these 85 years.
Consumer prices rose 1.8% in 1923, the first increase since 1920 and a sign
the postwar deflation had run its course; the economy settled into the
steadier growth that defined much of the rest of the decade. The year’s
biggest shock was political rather than economic: Warren Harding died August
2 in San Francisco while returning from a trip to Alaska, and Vice President
Calvin Coolidge was sworn in the next day at his family’s farmhouse in
Plymouth Notch, Vermont, administered the oath of office by his own father,
a notary public, by lamplight. Coolidge would go on to preside over the low,
stable inflation of the “Roaring Twenties.” The contrast with Germany that
year was stark. The Weimar Republic’s currency collapse reached its peak in
November 1923, with prices doubling every few days and a loaf of bread
costing billions of marks; Germany introduced a new currency, the
Rentenmark, that month to halt the spiral. U.S. consumer prices, by
comparison, had moved in single digits or held flat every year since 1921, a
gap that shaped how American economists would later think about what made
the postwar inflation of Europe so different from the mild swings at home.
First-class postage stayed at 2 cents.
Every 1923 amount converts to 2008 at the same ratio, 12.59: $1,000 becomes
$12,591, and $10,000 becomes $125,908.
Amount in 1923
Value in 2008
$1.00
$12.59
$5.00
$62.95
$10.00
$126
$20.00
$252
$50.00
$630
$100
$1,259
$500
$6,295
$1,000
$12,591
$5,000
$62,954
$10,000
$125,908
$100,000
$1,259,082
$1,000,000
$12,590,819
Inflation by spending category, 1923–2008
Between 1923 and 2008, food rose the most, up 1290.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 338.8%, against 1159.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1923
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1923 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.02%
$1,259
Food
3.15%
$1,390
Apparel
1.75%
$439
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1923: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1923 to 2008
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 1923–2008 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1923, at end
1923–1930
-0.34%
-2.3%
$97.66
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$81.87
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$141
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$173
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$227
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$482
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$764
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,007
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$1,259
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1923
$100 from 1923 had already become $179 by
1963, on its way to $1,259 in 2008; 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: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1923 had the buying
power of $1,259; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1923 to 2008: $100 is worth $1,259 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1923-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1923 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1923-to-2008/