$100 in 1927 is worth $1,379 in 2016,
because prices increased 1279.4% over that period, an average of
2.99% a year.
$100 in 1927 has
the same buying power as
$1,379
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1279.4%
Average inflation rate
2.99% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,379
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,279
CPI in 1927
17.4
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1927
-1.69%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1927 → 2016
$1,379
$100 in 2016 → 1927
$7.25
What happened to prices between 1927 and 2016
Between 1927 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.4 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1279.4%, which works out to an average of
2.99% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1927 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2016: the 1927 dollar
lost 92.8% of its purchasing power over
these 89 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 2016 at the same ratio, 13.79: $1,000 becomes
$13,794, and $10,000 becomes $137,935.
Amount in 1927
Value in 2016
$1.00
$13.79
$5.00
$68.97
$10.00
$138
$20.00
$276
$50.00
$690
$100
$1,379
$500
$6,897
$1,000
$13,794
$5,000
$68,968
$10,000
$137,935
$100,000
$1,379,351
$1,000,000
$13,793,506
Inflation by spending category, 1927–2016
Between 1927 and 2016, food rose the most, up 1411.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 398.2%, against 1279.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1927
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1927 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.99%
$1,379
Food
3.10%
$1,512
Apparel
1.82%
$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 2016
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 1927–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$1,379
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1927
$100 from 1927 had already become $240 by
1972, on its way to $1,379 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1927 had the buying
power of $1,379; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1927 to 2016: $100 is worth $1,379 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1927 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1927-to-2016/