$100 in 1925 is worth $1,435 in 2018,
because prices increased 1334.9% over that period, an average of
2.91% a year.
$100 in 1925 has
the same buying power as
$1,435
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1334.9%
Average inflation rate
2.91% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,435
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,335
CPI in 1925
17.5
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1925
2.34%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1925 → 2018
$1,435
$100 in 2018 → 1925
$6.97
What happened to prices between 1925 and 2018
Between 1925 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.5 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1334.9%, which works out to an average of
2.91% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1925 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2018: the 1925 dollar
lost 93.0% of its purchasing power over
these 93 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 2018 at the same ratio, 14.35: $1,000 becomes
$14,349, and $10,000 becomes $143,490.
Amount in 1925
Value in 2018
$1.00
$14.35
$5.00
$71.74
$10.00
$143
$20.00
$287
$50.00
$717
$100
$1,435
$500
$7,174
$1,000
$14,349
$5,000
$71,745
$10,000
$143,490
$100,000
$1,434,897
$1,000,000
$14,348,971
Inflation by spending category, 1925–2018
Between 1925 and 2018, food rose the most, up 1436.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 377.8%, against 1334.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1925
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1925 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.91%
$1,435
Food
2.98%
$1,537
Apparel
1.70%
$478
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 2018
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 1925–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$1,435
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1925
$100 from 1925 had already become $222 by
1970, on its way to $1,435 in 2018; 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: 2018
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1925 had the buying
power of $1,435; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1925 to 2018: $100 is worth $1,435 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1925 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2018/