$100 in 1928 is worth $164 in 1957,
because prices increased 64.3% over that period, an average of
1.73% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$164
in 1957
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
64.3%
Average inflation rate
1.73% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$164
Price difference ($100 base)
$64.33
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1957
28.1
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1957
3.31%
$100 in 1928 → 1957
$164
$100 in 1957 → 1928
$60.85
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1957
Between 1928 and 1957, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 28.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 64.3%, which works out to an average of
1.73% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.61 buys in 1957: the 1928 dollar
lost 39.1% of its purchasing power over
these 29 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 1957 at the same ratio, 1.64: $1,000 becomes
$1,643, and $10,000 becomes $16,433.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1957
$1.00
$1.64
$5.00
$8.22
$10.00
$16.43
$20.00
$32.87
$50.00
$82.16
$100
$164
$500
$822
$1,000
$1,643
$5,000
$8,216
$10,000
$16,433
$100,000
$164,327
$1,000,000
$1,643,275
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1957
Between 1928 and 1957, apparel rose the most, up 78.0%, while food rose the least, up 77.3%, against 64.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1957, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.73%
$164
Apparel
2.01%
$178
Food
1.99%
$177
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 1957
Prices climbed fastest in the 1940s, averaging 5.58% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1928–1957 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1928, at end
1928–1930
-1.18%
-2.3%
$97.66
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$81.87
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$141
1950–1957
2.22%
16.6%
$164
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $95.32 by
1942, on its way to $164 in 1957; 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.
In 1957, prices rose 3.3% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $164; the year's average CPI of 28.1 is the level
behind every 1957 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 3.3% in 1957, up from 1956’s 1.5% and
the sharpest increase since the Korean War price surge of 1951. The jump
fed a growing debate among economists over “cost-push” inflation, prices
climbing from rising wages and material costs rather than excess demand,
a debate that would recur for the next quarter century. The Federal
Reserve tightened policy to fight it, and by August the tighter money
combined with falling business investment to tip the economy into a
recession, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research’s
dating. The Cold War took a technological turn that October, when the
Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, on the
4th, stunning the American public and setting off both the Space Race and
a surge in federal science and defense spending the following year. Civil
rights reached a crisis that September in Little Rock, Arkansas: after
Governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to block nine Black
students from Central High School, Eisenhower federalized the Guard and
sent the 101st Airborne Division to enforce the Supreme Court’s
desegregation order. Consumer prices finished 1957 183.8% above their
1913 level. First-class postage held at 3 cents, and the
minimum wage stood at $1.00 an hour.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1957: $100 is worth $164 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1957/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1957. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1957/