$100 in 1925 is worth $1,230 in 2008,
because prices increased 1130.3% over that period, an average of
3.07% a year.
$100 in 1925 has
the same buying power as
$1,230
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1130.3%
Average inflation rate
3.07% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,230
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,130
CPI in 1925
17.5
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1925
2.34%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1925 → 2008
$1,230
$100 in 2008 → 1925
$8.13
What happened to prices between 1925 and 2008
Between 1925 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.5 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1130.3%, which works out to an average of
3.07% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1925 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2008: the 1925 dollar
lost 91.9% of its purchasing power over
these 83 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 2008 at the same ratio, 12.30: $1,000 becomes
$12,303, and $10,000 becomes $123,030.
Amount in 1925
Value in 2008
$1.00
$12.30
$5.00
$61.52
$10.00
$123
$20.00
$246
$50.00
$615
$100
$1,230
$500
$6,152
$1,000
$12,303
$5,000
$61,515
$10,000
$123,030
$100,000
$1,230,303
$1,000,000
$12,303,029
Inflation by spending category, 1925–2008
Between 1925 and 2008, food rose the most, up 1197.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 352.1%, against 1130.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1925
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1925 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.07%
$1,230
Food
3.14%
$1,298
Apparel
1.83%
$452
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 2008
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 1925–2008 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$747
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$984
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$1,230
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1925
$100 from 1925 had already become $180 by
1965, on its way to $1,230 in 2008; 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: 2008
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1925 had the buying
power of $1,230; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1925 to 2008: $100 is worth $1,230 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1925 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2008/