$100 in 1928 is worth $1,711 in 2022,
because prices increased 1611.4% over that period, an average of
3.07% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$1,711
in 2022
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1611.4%
Average inflation rate
3.07% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,711
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,611
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 2022
292.655
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 2022
8.00%
$100 in 1928 → 2022
$1,711
$100 in 2022 → 1928
$5.84
What happened to prices between 1928 and 2022
Between 1928 and 2022, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 292.655.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1611.4%, which works out to an average of
3.07% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2022: the 1928 dollar
lost 94.2% of its purchasing power over
these 94 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 2022 at the same ratio, 17.11: $1,000 becomes
$17,114, and $10,000 becomes $171,143.
Amount in 1928
Value in 2022
$1.00
$17.11
$5.00
$85.57
$10.00
$171
$20.00
$342
$50.00
$856
$100
$1,711
$500
$8,557
$1,000
$17,114
$5,000
$85,572
$10,000
$171,143
$100,000
$1,711,433
$1,000,000
$17,114,327
Inflation by spending category, 1928–2022
Between 1928 and 2022, food rose the most, up 1773.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 408.3%, against 1611.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 2022, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.07%
$1,711
Food
3.17%
$1,874
Apparel
1.74%
$508
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 2022
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 1928–2022 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$1,514
2020–2022
6.34%
13.1%
$1,711
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $260 by
1973, on its way to $1,711 in 2022; 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: 2022
In 2022, prices rose 8.0% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $1,711; the year's average CPI of 292.655 is the level
behind every 2022 figure on this page.
2022 was the year inflation returned. Consumer prices rose 8.0% on average,
the worst since 1981, driven by pandemic-era supply chains, stimulus-fueled
demand, and an energy shock from the war in Ukraine. Gas briefly topped $5 a
gallon nationally for the first time ever, and “inflation” became the
top-ranked economic concern in nearly every poll of American households.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 2022: $100 is worth $1,711 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2022/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 2022. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2022/