$100 in 1927 is worth $1,362 in 2015,
because prices increased 1262.2% over that period, an average of
3.01% a year.
$100 in 1927 has
the same buying power as
$1,362
in 2015
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1262.2%
Average inflation rate
3.01% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,362
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,262
CPI in 1927
17.4
CPI in 2015
237.017
Inflation in 1927
-1.69%
Inflation in 2015
0.12%
$100 in 1927 → 2015
$1,362
$100 in 2015 → 1927
$7.34
What happened to prices between 1927 and 2015
Between 1927 and 2015, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.4 to 237.017.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1262.2%, which works out to an average of
3.01% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1927 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2015: the 1927 dollar
lost 92.7% of its purchasing power over
these 88 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 2015 at the same ratio, 13.62: $1,000 becomes
$13,622, and $10,000 becomes $136,217.
Amount in 1927
Value in 2015
$1.00
$13.62
$5.00
$68.11
$10.00
$136
$20.00
$272
$50.00
$681
$100
$1,362
$500
$6,811
$1,000
$13,622
$5,000
$68,108
$10,000
$136,217
$100,000
$1,362,167
$1,000,000
$13,621,667
Inflation by spending category, 1927–2015
Between 1927 and 2015, food rose the most, up 1407.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 397.6%, against 1262.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1927
spending costs in 2015, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1927 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.01%
$1,362
Food
3.13%
$1,508
Apparel
1.84%
$498
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 2015
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 1927–2015 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
2010–2015
1.68%
8.7%
$1,362
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1927
$100 from 1927 had already become $240 by
1972, on its way to $1,362 in 2015; 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: 2015
In 2015, prices rose 0.1% and $100 from 1927 had the buying
power of $1,362; the year's average CPI of 237.017 is the level
behind every 2015 figure on this page.
2015 was almost a year with no inflation at all. Consumer prices rose 0.1%,
the smallest increase since the 2009 decline, because energy prices kept
falling. Gasoline averaged $2.45 a gallon, down from $3.37 in 2014, and a
strong dollar made imported goods cheaper. The picture was different outside
food and energy: core prices rose about 1.8% as rents and medical costs
climbed.
Incomes finally showed real progress. Median household income reached $56,516,
a large jump from $53,657, and the median new home sold for about $296,400. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp stayed at 49
cents.
The Federal Reserve chose December to end its zero-rate policy, raising the
target range to 0.25–0.50% for the first time since 2006. It moved even
though headline inflation was far under 2%, arguing that the drag from
energy was temporary. Earlier, a currency shift in China in August had shaken
global markets and pushed oil below $40 a barrel. Prices in 2015 ended
the year barely above their 2014 level.
MLA: “Inflation from 1927 to 2015: $100 is worth $1,362 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2015/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1927 to 2015. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2015/