$100 in 1928 is worth $1,142 in 2005,
because prices increased 1042.1% over that period, an average of
3.21% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$1,142
in 2005
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1042.1%
Average inflation rate
3.21% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,142
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,042
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 2005
195.3
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 2005
3.39%
$100 in 1928 → 2005
$1,142
$100 in 2005 → 1928
$8.76
What happened to prices between 1928 and 2005
Between 1928 and 2005, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 195.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1042.1%, which works out to an average of
3.21% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.09 buys in 2005: the 1928 dollar
lost 91.2% of its purchasing power over
these 77 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 2005 at the same ratio, 11.42: $1,000 becomes
$11,421, and $10,000 becomes $114,211.
Amount in 1928
Value in 2005
$1.00
$11.42
$5.00
$57.11
$10.00
$114
$20.00
$228
$50.00
$571
$100
$1,142
$500
$5,711
$1,000
$11,421
$5,000
$57,105
$10,000
$114,211
$100,000
$1,142,105
$1,000,000
$11,421,053
Inflation by spending category, 1928–2005
Between 1928 and 2005, food rose the most, up 1069.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 378.0%, against 1042.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 2005, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.21%
$1,142
Food
3.25%
$1,170
Apparel
2.05%
$478
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 2005
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 1928–2005 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
2000–2005
2.55%
13.4%
$1,142
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $204 by
1968, on its way to $1,142 in 2005; 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: 2005
In 2005, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $1,142; the year's average CPI of 195.3 is the level
behind every 2005 figure on this page.
Inflation rose to 3.4% in 2005, up from 2.7% in 2004, as gasoline averaged $2.30 a gallon,
compared with $1.88 the year before. Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, and with
Hurricane Rita weeks later it disrupted Gulf Coast refining, pushing the national average
price past $3 in early September. The Federal Reserve raised its policy rate at every meeting,
from 2.25% to 4.25%, to keep energy costs from feeding into other prices. The median household
earned about $46,300, up 4.5% from 2004, but the median new home price rose a further 9%, to
$240,900. In April, Congress passed a bankruptcy law that made it harder to clear debts. A
first-class stamp stayed at 37 cents until January 2006, and the federal minimum wage stayed
at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 2005: $100 is worth $1,142 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2005/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 2005. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2005/