$100 in 1925 is worth $1,246 in 2010,
because prices increased 1146.0% over that period, an average of
3.01% a year.
$100 in 1925 has
the same buying power as
$1,246
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1146.0%
Average inflation rate
3.01% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,246
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,146
CPI in 1925
17.5
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1925
2.34%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1925 → 2010
$1,246
$100 in 2010 → 1925
$8.03
What happened to prices between 1925 and 2010
Between 1925 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.5 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1146.0%, which works out to an average of
3.01% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1925 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2010: the 1925 dollar
lost 92.0% of its purchasing power over
these 85 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 2010 at the same ratio, 12.46: $1,000 becomes
$12,460, and $10,000 becomes $124,603.
Amount in 1925
Value in 2010
$1.00
$12.46
$5.00
$62.30
$10.00
$125
$20.00
$249
$50.00
$623
$100
$1,246
$500
$6,230
$1,000
$12,460
$5,000
$62,302
$10,000
$124,603
$100,000
$1,246,034
$1,000,000
$12,460,343
Inflation by spending category, 1925–2010
Between 1925 and 2010, food rose the most, up 1231.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 354.4%, against 1146.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1925
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1925 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.01%
$1,246
Food
3.09%
$1,331
Apparel
1.80%
$454
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 2010
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 1925–2010 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,246
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1925
$100 from 1925 had already become $180 by
1965, on its way to $1,246 in 2010; 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: 2010
In 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1925 had the buying
power of $1,246; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1925 to 2010: $100 is worth $1,246 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1925 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2010/