$100 in 1927 is worth $98.28 in 1928,
because prices declined 1.7% over that period, an average of
1.72% a year.
$100 in 1927 has
the same buying power as
$98.28
in 1928
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
-1.7%
Average inflation rate
-1.72% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$98.28
Price difference ($100 base)
-$1.72
CPI in 1927
17.4
CPI in 1928
17.1
Inflation in 1927
-1.69%
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
$100 in 1927 → 1928
$98.28
$100 in 1928 → 1927
$102
What happened to prices between 1927 and 1928
Between 1927 and 1928, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.4 to 17.1.
Cumulatively, prices declined 1.7%, which works out to an average of
-1.72% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1927 bought what
$1.02 buys in 1928: the 1927 dollar
gained 1.8% in purchasing power over
these 1 years.
Consumer prices fell 1.7% in 1927, a mild retreat after three years of
gradual increases and part of a shallow up-and-down pattern that ran through
the second half of the decade. Aviation delivered the year’s signature
moment: Charles Lindbergh departed Roosevelt Field, New York, on May 20 and
landed at Le Bourget Field outside Paris roughly 33.5 hours later, the first
person to fly the Atlantic solo and nonstop. Detroit closed a chapter of its
own that May, when Ford halted the Model T’s production line after nearly 19
years and more than 15 million cars sold, idling tens of thousands of
workers while its factories retooled for the Model A. The Federal Reserve,
meeting with European central bankers that summer, cut its discount rate to
ease pressure on currencies still recovering from the war, a move later
cited by economists including Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz as fuel for
the stock market speculation that built through the following two years.
First-class postage held at 2 cents.
Every 1927 amount converts to 1928 at the same ratio, 0.98: $1,000 becomes
$983, and $10,000 becomes $9,828.
Amount in 1927
Value in 1928
$1.00
$0.98
$5.00
$4.91
$10.00
$9.83
$20.00
$19.66
$50.00
$49.14
$100
$98.28
$500
$491
$1,000
$983
$5,000
$4,914
$10,000
$9,828
$100,000
$98,276
$1,000,000
$982,759
Inflation by spending category, 1927–1928
Every category fell between 1927 and 1928: apparel the most, down 1.2%, and food the least, down 0.6%. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1927
spending costs in 1928, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1927 →
All items (CPI-U)
-1.72%
$98.28
Food
-0.61%
$99.39
Apparel
-1.19%
$98.81
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1927: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1927
$100 from 1927shrank to $98.28 by 1928; each row
shows the CPI, that year's inflation rate, and the running value.
In 1928, prices fell 1.7% and $100 from 1927 had the buying
power of $98.28; the year's average CPI of 17.1 is the level
behind every 1928 figure on this page.
Consumer prices fell 1.7% in 1928, the second straight year of mild decline
even as the stock market climbed sharply, a widening gap between asset
prices and the cost of living that later economists pointed to as an early
warning sign. The Federal Reserve tightened policy repeatedly over the year,
raising its discount rate in an effort to slow the flood of borrowed money
pouring into stock purchases without derailing the broader economy, a
balancing act it ultimately failed to manage. Herbert Hoover won the
presidential election that November, defeating Democrat Al Smith on a
platform built around continuing the prosperity of the Coolidge years; few
voters or policymakers anticipated how quickly that prosperity would end.
First-class postage remained at 2 cents, a price that had now held for nine
straight years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1927 to 1928: $100 is worth $98.28 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-1928/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1927 to 1928. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-1928/