$100 in 1927 is worth $990 in 2000,
because prices increased 889.7% over that period, an average of
3.19% a year.
$100 in 1927 has
the same buying power as
$990
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
889.7%
Average inflation rate
3.19% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$990
Price difference ($100 base)
$890
CPI in 1927
17.4
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1927
-1.69%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1927 → 2000
$990
$100 in 2000 → 1927
$10.10
What happened to prices between 1927 and 2000
Between 1927 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.4 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 889.7%, which works out to an average of
3.19% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1927 bought what
$0.10 buys in 2000: the 1927 dollar
lost 89.9% of its purchasing power over
these 73 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 2000 at the same ratio, 9.90: $1,000 becomes
$9,897, and $10,000 becomes $98,966.
Amount in 1927
Value in 2000
$1.00
$9.90
$5.00
$49.48
$10.00
$98.97
$20.00
$198
$50.00
$495
$100
$990
$500
$4,948
$1,000
$9,897
$5,000
$49,483
$10,000
$98,966
$100,000
$989,655
$1,000,000
$9,896,552
Inflation by spending category, 1927–2000
Between 1927 and 2000, food rose the most, up 923.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 412.3%, against 889.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1927
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1927 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.19%
$990
Food
3.24%
$1,023
Apparel
2.26%
$512
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–).
Decade by decade: 1927 to 2000
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 1927–2000 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1927, at end
1927–1930
-1.36%
-4.0%
$95.98
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$80.46
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$139
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$170
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$223
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$474
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$751
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$990
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1927
$100 from 1927 had already become $174 by
1962, on its way to $990 in 2000; 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: 2000
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1927 had the buying
power of $990; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1927 to 2000: $100 is worth $990 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1927 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2000/