$100 in 1928 is worth $1,076 in 2003,
because prices increased 976.0% over that period, an average of
3.22% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$1,076
in 2003
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
976.0%
Average inflation rate
3.22% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,076
Price difference ($100 base)
$976
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 2003
184
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
$100 in 1928 → 2003
$1,076
$100 in 2003 → 1928
$9.29
What happened to prices between 1928 and 2003
Between 1928 and 2003, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 184.
Cumulatively, prices increased 976.0%, which works out to an average of
3.22% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.09 buys in 2003: the 1928 dollar
lost 90.7% of its purchasing power over
these 75 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 2003 at the same ratio, 10.76: $1,000 becomes
$10,760, and $10,000 becomes $107,602.
Amount in 1928
Value in 2003
$1.00
$10.76
$5.00
$53.80
$10.00
$108
$20.00
$215
$50.00
$538
$100
$1,076
$500
$5,380
$1,000
$10,760
$5,000
$53,801
$10,000
$107,602
$100,000
$1,076,023
$1,000,000
$10,760,234
Inflation by spending category, 1928–2003
Between 1928 and 2003, food rose the most, up 1004.3%, while apparel rose the least, up 383.6%, against 976.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 2003, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.22%
$1,076
Food
3.25%
$1,104
Apparel
2.12%
$484
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 2003
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 1928–2003 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
2000–2003
2.23%
6.9%
$1,076
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $179 by
1963, on its way to $1,076 in 2003; 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: 2003
In 2003, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $1,076; the year's average CPI of 184 is the level
behind every 2003 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 2003: $100 is worth $1,076 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2003/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 2003. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2003/