$100 in 1925 is worth $1,354 in 2015,
because prices increased 1254.4% over that period, an average of
2.94% a year.
$100 in 1925 has
the same buying power as
$1,354
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1254.4%
Average inflation rate
2.94% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,354
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,254
CPI in 1925
17.5
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1925
2.34%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1925 → 2015
$1,354
$100 in 2015 → 1925
$7.38
What happened to prices between 1925 and 2015
Between 1925 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.5 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1254.4%, which works out to an average of
2.94% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1925 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2015: the 1925 dollar
lost 92.6% of its purchasing power over
these 90 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 2015 at the same ratio, 13.54: $1,000 becomes
$13,544, and $10,000 becomes $135,438.
Amount in 1925
Value in 2015
$1.00
$13.54
$5.00
$67.72
$10.00
$135
$20.00
$271
$50.00
$677
$100
$1,354
$500
$6,772
$1,000
$13,544
$5,000
$67,719
$10,000
$135,438
$100,000
$1,354,383
$1,000,000
$13,543,829
Inflation by spending category, 1925–2015
Between 1925 and 2015, food rose the most, up 1398.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 378.7%, against 1254.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1925
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1925 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.94%
$1,354
Food
3.05%
$1,498
Apparel
1.76%
$479
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 2015
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 1925–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$1,354
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1925
$100 from 1925 had already become $222 by
1970, on its way to $1,354 in 2015; 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: 2015
In 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1925 had the buying
power of $1,354; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1925 to 2015: $100 is worth $1,354 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1925 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2015/