$100 in 1925 is worth $1,371 in 2016,
because prices increased 1271.5% over that period, an average of
2.92% a year.
$100 in 1925 has
the same buying power as
$1,371
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1271.5%
Average inflation rate
2.92% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,371
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,271
CPI in 1925
17.5
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1925
2.34%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1925 → 2016
$1,371
$100 in 2016 → 1925
$7.29
What happened to prices between 1925 and 2016
Between 1925 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.5 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1271.5%, which works out to an average of
2.92% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1925 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2016: the 1925 dollar
lost 92.7% of its purchasing power over
these 91 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 2016 at the same ratio, 13.71: $1,000 becomes
$13,715, and $10,000 becomes $137,147.
Amount in 1925
Value in 2016
$1.00
$13.71
$5.00
$68.57
$10.00
$137
$20.00
$274
$50.00
$686
$100
$1,371
$500
$6,857
$1,000
$13,715
$5,000
$68,573
$10,000
$137,147
$100,000
$1,371,469
$1,000,000
$13,714,686
Inflation by spending category, 1925–2016
Between 1925 and 2016, food rose the most, up 1402.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 379.3%, against 1271.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1925
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1925 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.92%
$1,371
Food
3.02%
$1,503
Apparel
1.74%
$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 2016
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 1925–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$1,371
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1925
$100 from 1925 had already become $222 by
1970, on its way to $1,371 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1925 had the buying
power of $1,371; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1925 to 2016: $100 is worth $1,371 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1925 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2016/