$100 in 1928 is worth $1,052 in 2002,
because prices increased 952.0% over that period, an average of
3.23% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$1,052
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
952.0%
Average inflation rate
3.23% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,052
Price difference ($100 base)
$952
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1928 → 2002
$1,052
$100 in 2002 → 1928
$9.51
What happened to prices between 1928 and 2002
Between 1928 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 952.0%, which works out to an average of
3.23% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.10 buys in 2002: the 1928 dollar
lost 90.5% of its purchasing power over
these 74 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 2002 at the same ratio, 10.52: $1,000 becomes
$10,520, and $10,000 becomes $105,205.
Amount in 1928
Value in 2002
$1.00
$10.52
$5.00
$52.60
$10.00
$105
$20.00
$210
$50.00
$526
$100
$1,052
$500
$5,260
$1,000
$10,520
$5,000
$52,602
$10,000
$105,205
$100,000
$1,052,047
$1,000,000
$10,520,468
Inflation by spending category, 1928–2002
Between 1928 and 2002, food rose the most, up 981.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 396.0%, against 952.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.23%
$1,052
Food
3.27%
$1,081
Apparel
2.19%
$496
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 2002
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 1928–2002 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,007
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$1,052
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $179 by
1963, on its way to $1,052 in 2002; 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: 2002
In 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $1,052; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 2002: $100 is worth $1,052 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2002/