$100 in 1928 is worth $629 in 1985,
because prices increased 529.2% over that period, an average of
3.28% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$629
in 1985
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
529.2%
Average inflation rate
3.28% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$629
Price difference ($100 base)
$529
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1985
107.6
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1985
3.56%
$100 in 1928 → 1985
$629
$100 in 1985 → 1928
$15.89
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1985
Between 1928 and 1985, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 107.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 529.2%, which works out to an average of
3.28% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.16 buys in 1985: the 1928 dollar
lost 84.1% of its purchasing power over
these 57 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 1985 at the same ratio, 6.29: $1,000 becomes
$6,292, and $10,000 becomes $62,924.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1985
$1.00
$6.29
$5.00
$31.46
$10.00
$62.92
$20.00
$126
$50.00
$315
$100
$629
$500
$3,146
$1,000
$6,292
$5,000
$31,462
$10,000
$62,924
$100,000
$629,240
$1,000,000
$6,292,398
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1985
Between 1928 and 1985, food rose the most, up 547.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 320.0%, against 529.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1985, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.28%
$629
Food
3.33%
$648
Apparel
2.55%
$420
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 1985
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 1928–1985 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
1980–1985
5.48%
30.6%
$629
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $159 by
1956, on its way to $629 in 1985; 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: 1985
In 1985, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $629; the year's average CPI of 107.6 is the level
behind every 1985 figure on this page.
By 1985, low inflation had become the norm rather than the exception.
Consumer prices rose 3.6% for the year, the fourth straight year in the
3-6% range following the double-digit spikes of 1980 and 1981, proof that
the disinflation had held rather than merely paused, as it had after
previous recessions. Overseas, the dollar had become a problem of its own:
years of high U.S. interest rates had pulled in foreign capital and pushed
the dollar’s value up so far that American exporters were losing business
abroad, widening the trade deficit. In September, the finance ministers of
the U.S., Japan, West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom met at New
York’s Plaza Hotel and agreed to coordinate a managed decline of the
dollar; it fell roughly 25% against major currencies over the following two
years. At home, Congress responded to a federal deficit that had roughly
tripled since 1980 by passing the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act in December,
setting binding targets to shrink the deficit with automatic
across-the-board cuts if lawmakers missed them. Households felt the calmer
economy in small ways: first-class postage rose to 22 cents in February,
its first increase since November 1981, after nearly four years at 20
cents.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1985: $100 is worth $629 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1985/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1985. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1985/