$100 in 1928 is worth $918 in 1996,
because prices increased 817.5% over that period, an average of
3.31% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$918
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
817.5%
Average inflation rate
3.31% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$918
Price difference ($100 base)
$818
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1928 → 1996
$918
$100 in 1996 → 1928
$10.90
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1996
Between 1928 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 817.5%, which works out to an average of
3.31% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.11 buys in 1996: the 1928 dollar
lost 89.1% of its purchasing power over
these 68 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 1996 at the same ratio, 9.18: $1,000 becomes
$9,175, and $10,000 becomes $91,754.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1996
$1.00
$9.18
$5.00
$45.88
$10.00
$91.75
$20.00
$184
$50.00
$459
$100
$918
$500
$4,588
$1,000
$9,175
$5,000
$45,877
$10,000
$91,754
$100,000
$917,544
$1,000,000
$9,175,439
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1996
Between 1928 and 1996, food rose the most, up 840.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 426.8%, against 817.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.31%
$918
Food
3.35%
$940
Apparel
2.47%
$527
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 1996
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 1928–1996 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$764
1990–1996
3.09%
20.0%
$918
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $179 by
1963, on its way to $918 in 1996; 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 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1996
In 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $918; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1996: $100 is worth $918 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1996/