$100 in 1924 is worth $1,433 in 2017,
because prices increased 1333.5% over that period, an average of
2.90% a year.
$100 in 1924 has
the same buying power as
$1,433
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1333.5%
Average inflation rate
2.90% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,433
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,333
CPI in 1924
17.1
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1924
0.00%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1924 → 2017
$1,433
$100 in 2017 → 1924
$6.98
What happened to prices between 1924 and 2017
Between 1924 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1333.5%, which works out to an average of
2.90% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1924 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2017: the 1924 dollar
lost 93.0% of its purchasing power over
these 93 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 2017 at the same ratio, 14.33: $1,000 becomes
$14,335, and $10,000 becomes $143,345.
Amount in 1924
Value in 2017
$1.00
$14.33
$5.00
$71.67
$10.00
$143
$20.00
$287
$50.00
$717
$100
$1,433
$500
$7,167
$1,000
$14,335
$5,000
$71,673
$10,000
$143,345
$100,000
$1,433,450
$1,000,000
$14,334,503
Inflation by spending category, 1924–2017
Between 1924 and 2017, food rose the most, up 1545.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 368.7%, against 1333.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1924
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1924 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.90%
$1,433
Food
3.06%
$1,645
Apparel
1.67%
$469
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 2017
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 1924–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$1,433
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1924
$100 from 1924 had already become $215 by
1969, on its way to $1,433 in 2017; 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: 2017
In 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1924 had the buying
power of $1,433; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1924 to 2017: $100 is worth $1,433 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1924-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1924 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1924-to-2017/