$100 in 1924 is worth $664 in 1987,
because prices increased 564.3% over that period, an average of
3.05% a year.
$100 in 1924 has
the same buying power as
$664
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
564.3%
Average inflation rate
3.05% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$664
Price difference ($100 base)
$564
CPI in 1924
17.1
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1924
0.00%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1924 → 1987
$664
$100 in 1987 → 1924
$15.05
What happened to prices between 1924 and 1987
Between 1924 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 564.3%, which works out to an average of
3.05% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1924 bought what
$0.15 buys in 1987: the 1924 dollar
lost 84.9% of its purchasing power over
these 63 years.
Consumer prices held flat in 1924, the CPI’s annual average unchanged from
1923 after swinging from a sharp postwar drop to a modest rise the year
before. That stability, extending the calm that had settled in after the
deflation of 1921 and 1922, became a defining feature of the rest of the
decade. Congress tightened immigration policy further with the Immigration
Act of 1924, signed May 26, which cut the national-origins quota from 3% of
each nationality’s 1910 census population to 2% of its 1890 population,
shifting admissions further toward northern and western Europe and
effectively excluding most immigration from Asia. Abroad, the U.S.-backed
Dawes Plan, adopted that August, reorganized Germany’s war reparations
payments and opened the way for American loans into the German economy,
helping stabilize European currencies after the hyperinflation that had
peaked in 1923. At home, Calvin Coolidge, who had served out
the remainder of Warren Harding’s term after his death the previous year,
won a full term of his own that November, campaigning on continued
prosperity and limited government. First-class postage remained at 2 cents,
a price unchanged since mid-1919.
Every 1924 amount converts to 1987 at the same ratio, 6.64: $1,000 becomes
$6,643, and $10,000 becomes $66,433.
Amount in 1924
Value in 1987
$1.00
$6.64
$5.00
$33.22
$10.00
$66.43
$20.00
$133
$50.00
$332
$100
$664
$500
$3,322
$1,000
$6,643
$5,000
$33,216
$10,000
$66,433
$100,000
$664,327
$1,000,000
$6,643,275
Inflation by spending category, 1924–1987
Between 1924 and 1987, food rose the most, up 646.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 312.7%, against 564.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1924
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1924 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.05%
$664
Food
3.24%
$747
Apparel
2.28%
$413
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1924: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1924 to 1987
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 1924–1987 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1924, at end
1924–1930
-0.39%
-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
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$664
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1924
$100 from 1924 had already become $157 by
1954, on its way to $664 in 1987; 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: 1987
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1924 had the buying
power of $664; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1924 to 1987: $100 is worth $664 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1924-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1924 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1924-to-1987/