$100 in 1928 is worth $974 in 1999,
because prices increased 874.3% over that period, an average of
3.26% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$974
in 1999
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
874.3%
Average inflation rate
3.26% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$974
Price difference ($100 base)
$874
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 1999
166.6
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 1999
2.21%
$100 in 1928 → 1999
$974
$100 in 1999 → 1928
$10.26
What happened to prices between 1928 and 1999
Between 1928 and 1999, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 166.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 874.3%, which works out to an average of
3.26% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.10 buys in 1999: the 1928 dollar
lost 89.7% of its purchasing power over
these 71 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 1999 at the same ratio, 9.74: $1,000 becomes
$9,743, and $10,000 becomes $97,427.
Amount in 1928
Value in 1999
$1.00
$9.74
$5.00
$48.71
$10.00
$97.43
$20.00
$195
$50.00
$487
$100
$974
$500
$4,871
$1,000
$9,743
$5,000
$48,713
$10,000
$97,427
$100,000
$974,269
$1,000,000
$9,742,690
Inflation by spending category, 1928–1999
Between 1928 and 1999, food rose the most, up 906.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 425.2%, against 874.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 1999, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.26%
$974
Food
3.31%
$1,007
Apparel
2.36%
$525
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 1999
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 1928–1999 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
1990–1999
2.73%
27.5%
$974
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $179 by
1963, on its way to $974 in 1999; 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: 1999
In 1999, prices rose 2.2% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $974; the year's average CPI of 166.6 is the level
behind every 1999 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $40,700 in 1999, gas averaged $1.17 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $161,000. Inflation ran at 2.2% for the year, ticking back up from 1998’s decade low
as oil prices recovered from their collapse. The decade closed with two changes to the financial
system that would shape the one after it: on January 1, the euro launched as an accounting
currency across 11 European countries, trading alongside national currencies like the French
franc and German mark ahead of physical cash in 2002, and in November, Congress passed the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, tearing down the Depression-era wall between commercial banks, investment
banks, and insurers. Stock markets, meanwhile, were absorbed in a boom of their own: the Nasdaq
surged through the year on soaring internet-stock valuations, and the Federal Reserve raised
interest rates three times in the second half of 1999 partly to cool the exuberance, even as it
pumped extra liquidity into the banking system to guard against any disruption from the Y2K
rollover. A first-class stamp cost 33 cents. Inflation had spent the decade falling from 1990’s
5.4% peak to averages closer to 2-3%, and 1999 closed it out almost exactly where the 1990s as a
whole had settled.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 1999: $100 is worth $974 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1999/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 1999. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-1999/