$100 in 1925 is worth $1,741 in 2023,
because prices increased 1641.2% over that period, an average of
2.96% a year.
$100 in 1925 has
the same buying power as
$1,741
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1641.2%
Average inflation rate
2.96% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,741
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,641
CPI in 1925
17.5
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1925
2.34%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1925 → 2023
$1,741
$100 in 2023 → 1925
$5.74
What happened to prices between 1925 and 2023
Between 1925 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.5 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1641.2%, which works out to an average of
2.96% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1925 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2023: the 1925 dollar
lost 94.3% of its purchasing power over
these 98 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 2023 at the same ratio, 17.41: $1,000 becomes
$17,412, and $10,000 becomes $174,115.
Amount in 1925
Value in 2023
$1.00
$17.41
$5.00
$87.06
$10.00
$174
$20.00
$348
$50.00
$871
$100
$1,741
$500
$8,706
$1,000
$17,412
$5,000
$87,058
$10,000
$174,115
$100,000
$1,741,154
$1,000,000
$17,411,543
Inflation by spending category, 1925–2023
Between 1925 and 2023, food rose the most, up 1857.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 396.5%, against 1641.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1925
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1925 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.96%
$1,741
Food
3.08%
$1,957
Apparel
1.65%
$496
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 2023
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 1925–2023 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$1,479
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$1,741
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1925
$100 from 1925 had already become $307 by
1975, on its way to $1,741 in 2023; 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: 2023
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1925 had the buying
power of $1,741; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1925 to 2023: $100 is worth $1,741 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1925 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1925-to-2023/