$100 in 1928 is worth $692 in 1988,
because prices increased 591.8% over that period, an average of
3.28% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$692
in 1988
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
591.8%
Average inflation rate
3.28% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$692
Price difference ($100 base)
$592
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1988
118.3
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
$100 in 1928 → 1988
$692
$100 in 1988 → 1928
$14.45
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1988
Between 1928 and 1988, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 118.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 591.8%, which works out to an average of
3.28% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.14 buys in 1988: the 1928 dollar
lost 85.5% of its purchasing power over
these 60 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 1988 at the same ratio, 6.92: $1,000 becomes
$6,918, and $10,000 becomes $69,181.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1988
$1.00
$6.92
$5.00
$34.59
$10.00
$69.18
$20.00
$138
$50.00
$346
$100
$692
$500
$3,459
$1,000
$6,918
$5,000
$34,591
$10,000
$69,181
$100,000
$691,813
$1,000,000
$6,918,129
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1988
Between 1928 and 1988, food rose the most, up 625.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 361.6%, against 591.8% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1988, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.28%
$692
Food
3.36%
$725
Apparel
2.58%
$462
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 1988
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 1928–1988 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
1980–1988
4.62%
43.6%
$692
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $169 by
1958, on its way to $692 in 1988; 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: 1988
In 1988, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $692; the year's average CPI of 118.3 is the level
behind every 1988 figure on this page.
By 1988, the economic expansion that began in the ashes of the 1981-82
recession was in its sixth year, and the Federal Reserve was watching for
signs it had run too long. Inflation rose to 4.1%, up from 3.6% the year
before, while unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1974. Alan
Greenspan’s Fed responded by raising the federal funds rate through the
year, from about 6.5% to 8.5%, trying to cool demand before prices
accelerated the way they had in the 1970s. Households still felt the
difference between this expansion and the last one: gas held near 90 cents
a gallon, almost exactly its 1987 price, and median household income rose
to roughly $27,200. The one price that moved was postage, which rose from
22 to 25 cents in April, the fourth increase of the decade but a far
gentler pace than the string of increases in the late 1970s and early
1980s. In November, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidency on
the strength of the expansion, promising in his nomination speech to hold
the line on taxes. Both the boom and that pledge would run into trouble
within two years, as the Fed’s rate increases helped tip the economy toward
the 1990-91 recession.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1988: $100 is worth $692 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1988/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1988. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1988/