$100 in 1928 is worth $582 in 1983,
because prices increased 482.5% over that period, an average of
3.26% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$582
in 1983
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
482.5%
Average inflation rate
3.26% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$582
Price difference ($100 base)
$482
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1983
99.6
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1983
3.21%
$100 in 1928 → 1983
$582
$100 in 1983 → 1928
$17.17
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1983
Between 1928 and 1983, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 99.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 482.5%, which works out to an average of
3.26% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.17 buys in 1983: the 1928 dollar
lost 82.8% of its purchasing power over
these 55 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 1983 at the same ratio, 5.82: $1,000 becomes
$5,825, and $10,000 becomes $58,246.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1983
$1.00
$5.82
$5.00
$29.12
$10.00
$58.25
$20.00
$116
$50.00
$291
$100
$582
$500
$2,912
$1,000
$5,825
$5,000
$29,123
$10,000
$58,246
$100,000
$582,456
$1,000,000
$5,824,561
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1983
Between 1928 and 1983, food rose the most, up 509.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 300.8%, against 482.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1983, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.26%
$582
Food
3.34%
$610
Apparel
2.56%
$401
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 1983
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and fell in the 1930s (1.7% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1928–1983 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
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$482
1980–1983
6.52%
20.9%
$582
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $159 by
1956, on its way to $582 in 1983; 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: 1983
In 1983, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $582; the year's average CPI of 99.6 is the level
behind every 1983 figure on this page.
1983 confirmed that the Volcker disinflation was not a one-year fluke.
Consumer prices rose 3.2% for the year, nearly identical to 1982’s pace and a
fraction of the double-digit rates of 1980 and 1981. With inflation tamed and
interest rates coming down, the economy roared back from the 1981-82
recession: real GDP grew 4.6%, the strongest calendar-year growth since the
1950s, and unemployment fell from its 10.8% peak to 8.3% by December. Housing
and auto sales, both starved of credit during the recession, led the
rebound. In April, Congress and President Reagan enacted the Social Security
Amendments of 1983, a bipartisan rescue of a system projected to run out of
money within months. The law gradually raised the full retirement age from
65 to 67, began taxing benefits for higher-income retirees, and delayed that
year’s cost-of-living adjustment by six months. For a program whose benefits
had been indexed to the CPI since 1975, the amendments were the first major
sign that inflation-proofing Social Security carried a cost Congress could
not simply legislate away. By year’s end, gas averaged $1.16 a gallon and
mailing a letter still cost 20 cents, prices that had barely moved since
1981, a sharp break from the constant increases of the previous decade.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1983: $100 is worth $582 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1983/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1983. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1983/