$100 in 1928 is worth $608 in 1984,
because prices increased 507.6% over that period, an average of
3.27% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$608
in 1984
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
507.6%
Average inflation rate
3.27% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$608
Price difference ($100 base)
$508
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1984
103.9
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1984
4.32%
$100 in 1928 → 1984
$608
$100 in 1984 → 1928
$16.46
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1984
Between 1928 and 1984, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 103.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 507.6%, which works out to an average of
3.27% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.16 buys in 1984: the 1928 dollar
lost 83.5% of its purchasing power over
these 56 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 1984 at the same ratio, 6.08: $1,000 becomes
$6,076, and $10,000 becomes $60,760.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1984
$1.00
$6.08
$5.00
$30.38
$10.00
$60.76
$20.00
$122
$50.00
$304
$100
$608
$500
$3,038
$1,000
$6,076
$5,000
$30,380
$10,000
$60,760
$100,000
$607,602
$1,000,000
$6,076,023
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1984
Between 1928 and 1984, food rose the most, up 533.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 308.4%, against 507.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1984, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.27%
$608
Food
3.35%
$633
Apparel
2.54%
$408
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 1984
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 1928–1984 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
1980–1984
5.97%
26.1%
$608
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $159 by
1956, on its way to $608 in 1984; 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: 1984
In 1984, prices rose 4.3% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $608; the year's average CPI of 103.9 is the level
behind every 1984 figure on this page.
1984 was the year the recovery became a boom. Real GDP grew 7.2%, the
fastest calendar-year growth since 1951, as the tax cuts passed in 1981
combined with falling interest rates and rebuilding consumer confidence.
Unemployment, which had topped 10.8% just two years earlier, fell below
7.5%. Inflation ticked up to 4.3% from 3.2% the year before, but nothing
close to a return of the 1970s wage-price spiral: the Federal Reserve under
Paul Volcker kept policy tight enough to hold the line while growth ran hot.
The strength of the expansion, branded “Morning in America” in President
Reagan’s reelection campaign, carried him to a 49-state landslide over
Walter Mondale that November, at the time the widest electoral-vote margin
in U.S. history. For households, the numbers behind the slogan were
concrete: median income rose to about $22,400, and a gallon of gas cost
$1.13, roughly what it had cost three years earlier even as wages kept
climbing. The contrast with 1980, when 13.5% inflation and interest rates
near 20% had defined the economy, could not have been sharper.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1984: $100 is worth $608 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1984/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1984. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1984/