$100 in 1925 is worth $1,353 in 2014,
because prices increased 1252.8% over that period, an average of
2.97% a year.
$100 in 1925 has
the same buying power as
$1,353
in 2014
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1252.8%
Average inflation rate
2.97% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,353
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,253
CPI in 1925
17.5
CPI in 2014
236.736
Inflation in 1925
2.34%
Inflation in 2014
1.62%
$100 in 1925 → 2014
$1,353
$100 in 2014 → 1925
$7.39
What happened to prices between 1925 and 2014
Between 1925 and 2014, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.5 to 236.736.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1252.8%, which works out to an average of
2.97% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1925 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2014: the 1925 dollar
lost 92.6% of its purchasing power over
these 89 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 2014 at the same ratio, 13.53: $1,000 becomes
$13,528, and $10,000 becomes $135,278.
Amount in 1925
Value in 2014
$1.00
$13.53
$5.00
$67.64
$10.00
$135
$20.00
$271
$50.00
$676
$100
$1,353
$500
$6,764
$1,000
$13,528
$5,000
$67,639
$10,000
$135,278
$100,000
$1,352,777
$1,000,000
$13,527,771
Inflation by spending category, 1925–2014
Between 1925 and 2014, food rose the most, up 1371.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 384.8%, against 1252.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1925
spending costs in 2014, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1925 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.97%
$1,353
Food
3.07%
$1,471
Apparel
1.79%
$485
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 2014
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 1925–2014 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
2010–2014
2.08%
8.6%
$1,353
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1925
$100 from 1925 had already become $222 by
1970, on its way to $1,353 in 2014; 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: 2014
In 2014, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1925 had the buying
power of $1,353; the year's average CPI of 236.736 is the level
behind every 2014 figure on this page.
2014 ended with the sharpest oil price drop in years. Consumer prices rose
1.6% for the year, close to 2013’s pace, but the annual figure hid a shift at
the pump: crude oil fell from above $100 a barrel in June to below $60 in
December, and gasoline finished the year near $2.25 a gallon after averaging
$3.37 across 2014. The drop reflected record U.S. shale output, softer
global demand, and OPEC’s decision in November to keep producing.
For households, cheaper fuel arrived just as the labor market strengthened.
Median household income was $53,657, essentially flat on the prior year, and
the median new home sold for about $288,500. The federal minimum wage stayed
at $7.25 for a fifth year, and a first-class stamp rose to 49 cents.
The Federal Reserve ended its bond purchases in October but left its policy
rate at zero. A stronger dollar helped hold down import prices. Because
energy weighs heavily in the CPI, the late-year slide carried into 2015, which
posted the smallest annual increase of the decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1925 to 2014: $100 is worth $1,353 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2014/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1925 to 2014. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2014/