$100 in 1924 is worth $1,404 in 2016,
because prices increased 1303.5% over that period, an average of
2.91% a year.
$100 in 1924 has
the same buying power as
$1,404
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1303.5%
Average inflation rate
2.91% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,404
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,304
CPI in 1924
17.1
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1924
0.00%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1924 → 2016
$1,404
$100 in 2016 → 1924
$7.12
What happened to prices between 1924 and 2016
Between 1924 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1303.5%, which works out to an average of
2.91% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1924 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2016: the 1924 dollar
lost 92.9% of its purchasing power over
these 92 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 2016 at the same ratio, 14.04: $1,000 becomes
$14,035, and $10,000 becomes $140,355.
Amount in 1924
Value in 2016
$1.00
$14.04
$5.00
$70.18
$10.00
$140
$20.00
$281
$50.00
$702
$100
$1,404
$500
$7,018
$1,000
$14,035
$5,000
$70,177
$10,000
$140,355
$100,000
$1,403,550
$1,000,000
$14,035,497
Inflation by spending category, 1924–2016
Between 1924 and 2016, food rose the most, up 1531.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 370.3%, against 1303.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1924
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1924 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.91%
$1,404
Food
3.08%
$1,631
Apparel
1.70%
$470
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 2016
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 1924–2016 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,007
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,275
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$1,404
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1924
$100 from 1924 had already become $215 by
1969, on its way to $1,404 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1924 had the buying
power of $1,404; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1924 to 2016: $100 is worth $1,404 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1924-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1924 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1924-to-2016/