$100 in 1924 is worth $939 in 1997,
because prices increased 838.6% over that period, an average of
3.11% a year.
$100 in 1924 has
the same buying power as
$939
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
838.6%
Average inflation rate
3.11% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$939
Price difference ($100 base)
$839
CPI in 1924
17.1
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1924
0.00%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1924 → 1997
$939
$100 in 1997 → 1924
$10.65
What happened to prices between 1924 and 1997
Between 1924 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 838.6%, which works out to an average of
3.11% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1924 bought what
$0.11 buys in 1997: the 1924 dollar
lost 89.3% of its purchasing power over
these 73 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 1997 at the same ratio, 9.39: $1,000 becomes
$9,386, and $10,000 becomes $93,860.
Amount in 1924
Value in 1997
$1.00
$9.39
$5.00
$46.93
$10.00
$93.86
$20.00
$188
$50.00
$469
$100
$939
$500
$4,693
$1,000
$9,386
$5,000
$46,930
$10,000
$93,860
$100,000
$938,596
$1,000,000
$9,385,965
Inflation by spending category, 1924–1997
Between 1924 and 1997, food rose the most, up 934.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 395.9%, against 838.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1924
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1924 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.11%
$939
Food
3.25%
$1,035
Apparel
2.22%
$496
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 1997
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 1924–1997 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$764
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$939
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1924
$100 from 1924 had already become $170 by
1959, on its way to $939 in 1997; 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: 1997
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1924 had the buying
power of $939; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1924 to 1997: $100 is worth $939 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1924-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1924 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1924-to-1997/