$100 in 1928 is worth $244 in 1972,
because prices increased 144.4% over that period, an average of
2.05% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$244
in 1972
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
144.4%
Average inflation rate
2.05% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$244
Price difference ($100 base)
$144
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1972
41.8
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1972
3.21%
$100 in 1928 → 1972
$244
$100 in 1972 → 1928
$40.91
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1972
Between 1928 and 1972, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 41.8.
Cumulatively, prices increased 144.4%, which works out to an average of
2.05% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.41 buys in 1972: the 1928 dollar
lost 59.1% of its purchasing power over
these 44 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 1972 at the same ratio, 2.44: $1,000 becomes
$2,444, and $10,000 becomes $24,444.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1972
$1.00
$2.44
$5.00
$12.22
$10.00
$24.44
$20.00
$48.89
$50.00
$122
$100
$244
$500
$1,222
$1,000
$2,444
$5,000
$12,222
$10,000
$24,444
$100,000
$244,444
$1,000,000
$2,444,444
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1972
Between 1928 and 1972, food rose the most, up 158.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 149.2%, against 144.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1972, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.05%
$244
Food
2.18%
$258
Apparel
2.10%
$249
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 1972
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 1928–1972 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
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$227
1970–1972
3.79%
7.7%
$244
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $141 by
1950, on its way to $244 in 1972; 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: 1972
In 1972, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $244; the year's average CPI of 41.8 is the level
behind every 1972 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose just 3.2% in 1972, the calmest year of the decade and a
sharp break from the previous two years. The relief was largely engineered:
Nixon’s wage and price controls, imposed as a 90-day freeze in August 1971,
had settled into a series of “phases” that capped how much businesses could
raise prices through the election year. Economists would later argue the
controls mostly deferred inflation rather than curing it, storing up pressure
that broke loose once they were lifted. Nixon spent political capital on
foreign policy that year, traveling to Beijing that February in the first
visit by a sitting U.S. president to the People’s Republic of China, a trip
that began normalizing relations Washington had frozen since 1949. Closer to
home, five men were arrested breaking into the Democratic National
Committee’s offices at the Watergate complex that June 17, an event that drew
little attention at the time but would eventually force Nixon from office.
None of it dented his re-election bid: Nixon carried 49 states against
Democrat George McGovern that November, helped by an economy that, on paper,
looked more stable than it had in years. A median household earned $9,697 in
1972, a new home sold for a median $27,600, and gas held near 36 cents a
gallon for a third straight year. Consumer prices stood 322.2% above their
1913 level, a lull that would not survive contact with the
controls’ expiration and the oil shock still to come.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1972: $100 is worth $244 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1972/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1972. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1972/