$100 in 1928 is worth $181 in 1964,
because prices increased 81.3% over that period, an average of
1.67% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$181
in 1964
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
81.3%
Average inflation rate
1.67% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$181
Price difference ($100 base)
$81.29
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1964
31
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1964
1.31%
$100 in 1928 → 1964
$181
$100 in 1964 → 1928
$55.16
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1964
Between 1928 and 1964, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 31.
Cumulatively, prices increased 81.3%, which works out to an average of
1.67% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.55 buys in 1964: the 1928 dollar
lost 44.8% of its purchasing power over
these 36 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 1964 at the same ratio, 1.81: $1,000 becomes
$1,813, and $10,000 becomes $18,129.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1964
$1.00
$1.81
$5.00
$9.06
$10.00
$18.13
$20.00
$36.26
$50.00
$90.64
$100
$181
$500
$906
$1,000
$1,813
$5,000
$9,064
$10,000
$18,129
$100,000
$181,287
$1,000,000
$1,812,865
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1964
Between 1928 and 1964, food rose the most, up 93.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 89.2%, against 81.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1964, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
1.67%
$181
Food
1.85%
$193
Apparel
1.79%
$189
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 1964
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 1928–1964 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
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$173
1960–1964
1.16%
4.7%
$181
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $114 by
1946, on its way to $181 in 1964; 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 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1964
In 1964, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $181; the year's average CPI of 31 is the level
behind every 1964 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 1.3% in 1964, matching 1963’s pace
even as a large federal tax cut took effect that year. The Revenue Act of
1964, signed February 26, lowered individual and corporate tax rates
significantly, the cut Kennedy had proposed the year before his death and
Johnson pushed through Congress as a Keynesian bet that lower taxes would
spur enough growth without stoking prices. Congress reshaped civil rights
law that July 2, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination
based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in employment
and public accommodations, the most sweeping civil rights legislation
since Reconstruction. Vietnam policy shifted that August, when Congress
passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution after reported attacks on U.S. Navy
destroyers, authorizing Johnson to use military force in Vietnam without
a formal declaration of war. American pop culture changed that February
too: the Beatles landed at New York’s Kennedy Airport and played the Ed
Sullivan Show two days later for an estimated 73 million viewers,
igniting the “British Invasion.” Consumer prices finished 1964 213.1%
above their 1913 level. First-class postage held at 5
cents, and the minimum wage stayed at $1.25 an hour.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1964: $100 is worth $181 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1964/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1964. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1964/