$100 in 1928 is worth $80.12 in 1935,
because prices declined 19.9% over that period, an average of
3.12% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$80.12
in 1935
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
-19.9%
Average inflation rate
-3.12% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$80.12
Price difference ($100 base)
-$19.88
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1935
13.7
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1935
2.24%
$100 in 1928 → 1935
$80.12
$100 in 1935 → 1928
$125
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1935
Between 1928 and 1935, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 13.7.
Cumulatively, prices declined 19.9%, which works out to an average of
-3.12% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$1.25 buys in 1935: the 1928 dollar
gained 24.8% in purchasing power over
these 7 years.
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.
Every 1928 amount converts to 1935 at the same ratio, 0.80: $1,000 becomes
$801, and $10,000 becomes $8,012.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1935
$1.00
$0.80
$5.00
$4.01
$10.00
$8.01
$20.00
$16.02
$50.00
$40.06
$100
$80.12
$500
$401
$1,000
$801
$5,000
$4,006
$10,000
$8,012
$100,000
$80,117
$1,000,000
$801,170
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1935
Every category fell between 1928 and 1935: food the most, down 23.9%, and apparel the least, down 16.8%. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1935, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
-3.12%
$80.12
Apparel
-2.59%
$83.20
Food
-3.83%
$76.07
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1928: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1928 to 1935
Prices fell throughout this span: most slowly in the 1920s (1.2% a year) and fastest in the 1930s (3.9% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1928–1935 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1928, at end
1928–1930
-1.18%
-2.3%
$97.66
1930–1935
-3.88%
-18.0%
$80.12
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $88.89 by
1931, on its way to $80.12 in 1935; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.1% in 1934, and prices fell 9.9% in 1932, the deepest deflation of the period.
In 1935, prices rose 2.2% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $80.12; the year's average CPI of 13.7 is the level
behind every 1935 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 2.2% in 1935, a second straight annual increase after
1934’s turnaround, though the CPI still sat well below its
1929 peak and the recovery remained uneven and incomplete.
The year’s biggest legislative achievements aimed at making that unevenness
less punishing. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act on August 14,
creating federal old-age pensions and unemployment insurance funded by a new
payroll tax, the first federal safety net of its kind in U.S. history. That
spring, the Works Progress Administration had already begun putting millions
of unemployed Americans to work on public construction, arts, and
infrastructure projects, becoming the largest jobs program of the New Deal.
Congress added labor protections to the mix that July with the National
Labor Relations Act, guaranteeing most private-sector workers the right to
organize and bargain collectively. The human cost of the Dust Bowl was still
mounting on the Plains: the storm known as Black Sunday hit on April 14,
one of the worst of the decade, and continued drought kept driving farm
families off land that could no longer support them. Consumer prices ended
the year 38.4% above their 1913 level. First-class postage
held at 3 cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1935: $100 is worth $80.12 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1935/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1935. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1935/