$100 in 1928 is worth $333 in 1976,
because prices increased 232.7% over that period, an average of
2.54% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$333
in 1976
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
232.7%
Average inflation rate
2.54% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$333
Price difference ($100 base)
$233
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1976
56.9
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
$100 in 1928 → 1976
$333
$100 in 1976 → 1928
$30.05
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1976
Between 1928 and 1976, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 56.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 232.7%, which works out to an average of
2.54% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.30 buys in 1976: the 1928 dollar
lost 69.9% of its purchasing power over
these 48 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 1976 at the same ratio, 3.33: $1,000 becomes
$3,327, and $10,000 becomes $33,275.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1976
$1.00
$3.33
$5.00
$16.64
$10.00
$33.27
$20.00
$66.55
$50.00
$166
$100
$333
$500
$1,664
$1,000
$3,327
$5,000
$16,637
$10,000
$33,275
$100,000
$332,749
$1,000,000
$3,327,485
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1976
Between 1928 and 1976, food rose the most, up 277.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 200.8%, against 232.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1976, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.54%
$333
Food
2.81%
$378
Apparel
2.32%
$301
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 1976
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.59% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1928–1976 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
1970–1976
6.59%
46.6%
$333
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $155 by
1952, on its way to $333 in 1976; 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: 1976
In 1976, prices rose 5.8% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $333; the year's average CPI of 56.9 is the level
behind every 1976 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 5.8% in 1976, the calmest pace since 1972,
as the economy pulled out of the 1973-75 recession and price growth settled
to roughly half its 1974 peak. The recovery gave Americans
room to celebrate: tall ships filled New York Harbor and fireworks lit cities
nationwide on July 4 for the country’s bicentennial, a rare moment of shared
celebration after Vietnam and Watergate. Politically, Jimmy Carter, a former
Georgia governor running as a Washington outsider, defeated incumbent Gerald
Ford that November, campaigning on restoring trust in government and bringing
down inflation and unemployment together. In a California garage, Steve
Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer that April to
sell the Apple I, a bare circuit board aimed at electronics hobbyists, a
business that looked far from consequential at the time. First-class
postage, which had risen to 13 cents that past December 31, held there
through the year, the longest stretch without a rate change since the Postal
Service’s creation. A median household earned $12,686 in 1976, a new home
sold for a median $44,200, and gas averaged 59 cents a gallon. Consumer
prices stood 474.7% above their 1913 level, a calm interlude
before inflation turned back up.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1976: $100 is worth $333 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1976/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1976. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1976/