$100 in 1928 is worth $1,834 in 2024,
because prices increased 1734.4% over that period, an average of
3.08% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$1,834
in 2024
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1734.4%
Average inflation rate
3.08% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,834
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,734
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 2024
313.689
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 2024
2.95%
$100 in 1928 → 2024
$1,834
$100 in 2024 → 1928
$5.45
What happened to prices between 1928 and 2024
Between 1928 and 2024, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 313.689.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1734.4%, which works out to an average of
3.08% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.05 buys in 2024: the 1928 dollar
lost 94.5% of its purchasing power over
these 96 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 2024 at the same ratio, 18.34: $1,000 becomes
$18,344, and $10,000 becomes $183,444.
Amount in 1928
Value in 2024
$1.00
$18.34
$5.00
$91.72
$10.00
$183
$20.00
$367
$50.00
$917
$100
$1,834
$500
$9,172
$1,000
$18,344
$5,000
$91,722
$10,000
$183,444
$100,000
$1,834,439
$1,000,000
$18,344,386
Inflation by spending category, 1928–2024
Between 1928 and 2024, food rose the most, up 1926.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 425.9%, against 1734.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 2024, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.08%
$1,834
Food
3.18%
$2,026
Apparel
1.74%
$526
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 2024
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 1928–2024 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
2020–2024
4.93%
21.2%
$1,834
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $381 by
1978, on its way to $1,834 in 2024; 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: 2024
In 2024, prices rose 2.9% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $1,834; the year's average CPI of 313.689 is the level
behind every 2024 figure on this page.
2024 brought inflation close to normal without fully reaching it. Consumer
prices rose 2.9% on average, the smallest yearly increase since 2020, and the
December-to-December rate was also 2.9%. Gasoline averaged $3.30 a gallon,
below 2023’s $3.52. Shelter stayed the biggest driver of the index, so the
pace of price growth in categories that households can’t easily avoid, such as
rent and insurance, lagged the drop in goods and energy costs.
The Federal Reserve declared progress in September, cutting its policy rate
by half a point, the first reduction since the pandemic emergency, and then
by a quarter point in November and again in December. Mortgage rates near 7%
kept the housing market frozen for many would-be buyers.
Median household income was $83,730, the federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 73 cents in July. After the November election,
attention turned to how announced tariffs and tax policy might affect prices
in 2025.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 2024: $100 is worth $1,834 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2024/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 2024. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2024/