$100 in 1927 is worth $1,253 in 2010,
because prices increased 1153.2% over that period, an average of
3.09% a year.
$100 in 1927 has
the same buying power as
$1,253
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1153.2%
Average inflation rate
3.09% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,253
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,153
CPI in 1927
17.4
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1927
-1.69%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1927 → 2010
$1,253
$100 in 2010 → 1927
$7.98
What happened to prices between 1927 and 2010
Between 1927 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.4 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1153.2%, which works out to an average of
3.09% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1927 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2010: the 1927 dollar
lost 92.0% of its purchasing power over
these 83 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 2010 at the same ratio, 12.53: $1,000 becomes
$12,532, and $10,000 becomes $125,320.
Amount in 1927
Value in 2010
$1.00
$12.53
$5.00
$62.66
$10.00
$125
$20.00
$251
$50.00
$627
$100
$1,253
$500
$6,266
$1,000
$12,532
$5,000
$62,660
$10,000
$125,320
$100,000
$1,253,195
$1,000,000
$12,531,954
Inflation by spending category, 1927–2010
Between 1927 and 2010, food rose the most, up 1239.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 372.3%, against 1153.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1927
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1927 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.09%
$1,253
Food
3.18%
$1,339
Apparel
1.89%
$472
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 2010
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 1927–2010 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,253
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1927
$100 from 1927 had already become $192 by
1967, on its way to $1,253 in 2010; 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: 2010
In 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1927 had the buying
power of $1,253; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1927 to 2010: $100 is worth $1,253 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1927 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2010/