$100 in 1928 is worth $1,433 in 2017,
because prices increased 1333.5% over that period, an average of
3.04% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$1,433
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1333.5%
Average inflation rate
3.04% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,433
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,333
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1928 → 2017
$1,433
$100 in 2017 → 1928
$6.98
What happened to prices between 1928 and 2017
Between 1928 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1333.5%, which works out to an average of
3.04% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2017: the 1928 dollar
lost 93.0% of its purchasing power over
these 89 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 2017 at the same ratio, 14.33: $1,000 becomes
$14,335, and $10,000 becomes $143,345.
Amount in 1928
Value in 2017
$1.00
$14.33
$5.00
$71.67
$10.00
$143
$20.00
$287
$50.00
$717
$100
$1,433
$500
$7,167
$1,000
$14,335
$5,000
$71,673
$10,000
$143,345
$100,000
$1,433,450
$1,000,000
$14,334,503
Inflation by spending category, 1928–2017
Between 1928 and 2017, food rose the most, up 1434.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 402.4%, against 1333.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.04%
$1,433
Food
3.12%
$1,534
Apparel
1.83%
$502
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 2017
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 1928–2017 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,275
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$1,433
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $260 by
1973, on its way to $1,433 in 2017; 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: 2017
In 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $1,433; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 2017: $100 is worth $1,433 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2017/