$100 in 1925 is worth $649 in 1987,
because prices increased 549.1% over that period, an average of
3.06% a year.
$100 in 1925 has
the same buying power as
$649
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
549.1%
Average inflation rate
3.06% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$649
Price difference ($100 base)
$549
CPI in 1925
17.5
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1925
2.34%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1925 → 1987
$649
$100 in 1987 → 1925
$15.40
What happened to prices between 1925 and 1987
Between 1925 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.5 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 549.1%, which works out to an average of
3.06% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1925 bought what
$0.15 buys in 1987: the 1925 dollar
lost 84.6% of its purchasing power over
these 62 years.
Consumer prices rose 2.3% in 1925, the CPI’s largest single-year increase
since the deflationary swings of the early 1920s, though still mild next to
the double-digit inflation of the World War I years. The country’s cultural
fault lines were on full display that summer in Dayton, Tennessee, where
high school teacher John Scopes was tried July 10-21 for violating a state
law against teaching evolution, a case that drew national press coverage and
pitted prosecutor William Jennings Bryan against defense attorney Clarence
Darrow. Real estate speculation, meanwhile, peaked in Florida, where buyers
flipped undeveloped land in the Miami area on thin down payments, driving
prices far above what the land itself could support; the bubble would
collapse the following year. Detroit reshuffled that June too: Walter
Chrysler reorganized the struggling Maxwell Motor Company into Chrysler
Corporation, the start of what would become one of the American auto
industry’s “Big Three.” First-class postage held at 2 cents for the sixth
straight year.
Every 1925 amount converts to 1987 at the same ratio, 6.49: $1,000 becomes
$6,491, and $10,000 becomes $64,914.
Amount in 1925
Value in 1987
$1.00
$6.49
$5.00
$32.46
$10.00
$64.91
$20.00
$130
$50.00
$325
$100
$649
$500
$3,246
$1,000
$6,491
$5,000
$32,457
$10,000
$64,914
$100,000
$649,143
$1,000,000
$6,491,429
Inflation by spending category, 1925–1987
Between 1925 and 1987, food rose the most, up 587.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 320.5%, against 549.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1925
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1925 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.06%
$649
Food
3.16%
$688
Apparel
2.34%
$421
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1925: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1925 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 1925–1987 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1925, at end
1925–1930
-0.93%
-4.6%
$95.43
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$80.00
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$138
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$169
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$222
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$471
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$649
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1925
$100 from 1925 had already become $153 by
1955, on its way to $649 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 1925 had the buying
power of $649; 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 1925 to 1987: $100 is worth $649 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1925 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-1987/