$100 in 1928 is worth $1,179 in 2006,
because prices increased 1078.9% over that period, an average of
3.21% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$1,179
in 2006
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1078.9%
Average inflation rate
3.21% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,179
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,079
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 2006
201.6
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 2006
3.23%
$100 in 1928 → 2006
$1,179
$100 in 2006 → 1928
$8.48
What happened to prices between 1928 and 2006
Between 1928 and 2006, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 201.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1078.9%, which works out to an average of
3.21% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2006: the 1928 dollar
lost 91.5% of its purchasing power over
these 78 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 2006 at the same ratio, 11.79: $1,000 becomes
$11,789, and $10,000 becomes $117,895.
Amount in 1928
Value in 2006
$1.00
$11.79
$5.00
$58.95
$10.00
$118
$20.00
$236
$50.00
$589
$100
$1,179
$500
$5,895
$1,000
$11,789
$5,000
$58,947
$10,000
$117,895
$100,000
$1,178,947
$1,000,000
$11,789,474
Inflation by spending category, 1928–2006
Between 1928 and 2006, food rose the most, up 1097.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 378.0%, against 1078.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 2006, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.21%
$1,179
Food
3.23%
$1,198
Apparel
2.03%
$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 2006
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 1928–2006 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
2000–2006
2.66%
17.1%
$1,179
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $204 by
1968, on its way to $1,179 in 2006; 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: 2006
In 2006, prices rose 3.2% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $1,179; the year's average CPI of 201.6 is the level
behind every 2006 figure on this page.
Inflation was 3.2% in 2006 and gasoline averaged $2.59 a gallon, up 29 cents from 2005. The
median household earned about $48,200 and the median new home cost $246,500, a gain of about
2% after a 13% jump in 2004 and 9% in 2005. National home prices, by the S&P/Case-Shiller
index, peaked in mid-2006. Ben Bernanke replaced Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chair on
February 1, and on June 29 the Fed raised its policy rate to 5.25%, the last of 17 straight
quarter-point increases. It held there for over a year. A first-class stamp rose to 39 cents in
January, and the federal minimum wage was $5.15 for the ninth full year in a row.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 2006: $100 is worth $1,179 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2006/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 2006. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2006/