$100 in 1923 is worth $1,362 in 2013,
because prices increased 1262.3% over that period, an average of
2.94% a year.
$100 in 1923 has
the same buying power as
$1,362
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1262.3%
Average inflation rate
2.94% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,362
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,262
CPI in 1923
17.1
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1923
1.79%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1923 → 2013
$1,362
$100 in 2013 → 1923
$7.34
What happened to prices between 1923 and 2013
Between 1923 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1262.3%, which works out to an average of
2.94% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1923 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2013: the 1923 dollar
lost 92.7% of its purchasing power over
these 90 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 2013 at the same ratio, 13.62: $1,000 becomes
$13,623, and $10,000 becomes $136,232.
Amount in 1923
Value in 2013
$1.00
$13.62
$5.00
$68.12
$10.00
$136
$20.00
$272
$50.00
$681
$100
$1,362
$500
$6,812
$1,000
$13,623
$5,000
$68,116
$10,000
$136,232
$100,000
$1,362,322
$1,000,000
$13,623,216
Inflation by spending category, 1923–2013
Between 1923 and 2013, food rose the most, up 1439.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 370.2%, against 1262.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1923
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1923 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.94%
$1,362
Food
3.08%
$1,539
Apparel
1.73%
$470
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 2013
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 1923–2013 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,275
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$1,362
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1923
$100 from 1923 had already become $204 by
1968, on its way to $1,362 in 2013; 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: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1923 had the buying
power of $1,362; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1923 to 2013: $100 is worth $1,362 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1923-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1923 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1923-to-2013/