$100 in 1928 is worth $1,883 in 2025,
because prices increased 1782.7% over that period, an average of
3.07% a year.
$100 in 1928 has
the same buying power as
$1,883
in 2025
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1782.7%
Average inflation rate
3.07% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,883
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,783
CPI in 1928
17.1
CPI in 2025
321.943
Inflation in 1928
-1.72%
Inflation in 2025
2.63%
$100 in 1928 → 2025
$1,883
$100 in 2025 → 1928
$5.31
What happened to prices between 1928 and 2025
Between 1928 and 2025, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.1 to 321.943.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1782.7%, which works out to an average of
3.07% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1928 bought what
$0.05 buys in 2025: the 1928 dollar
lost 94.7% of its purchasing power over
these 97 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 2025 at the same ratio, 18.83: $1,000 becomes
$18,827, and $10,000 becomes $188,271.
Amount in 1928
Value in 2025
$1.00
$18.83
$5.00
$94.14
$10.00
$188
$20.00
$377
$50.00
$941
$100
$1,883
$500
$9,414
$1,000
$18,827
$5,000
$94,135
$10,000
$188,271
$100,000
$1,882,708
$1,000,000
$18,827,076
Inflation by spending category, 1928–2025
Between 1928 and 2025, food rose the most, up 1982.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 425.2%, against 1782.7% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1928
spending costs in 2025, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1928 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.07%
$1,883
Food
3.18%
$2,083
Apparel
1.72%
$525
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 2025
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 1928–2025 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
2020–2025
4.46%
24.4%
$1,883
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1928
$100 from 1928 had already become $381 by
1978, on its way to $1,883 in 2025; 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: 2025
In 2025, prices rose 2.6% and $100 from 1928 had the buying
power of $1,883; the year's average CPI of 321.943 is the level
behind every 2025 figure on this page.
2025 was a year of trade policy and data disruptions rather than an
inflation surge. Consumer prices rose 2.6% on average, a step down from
2024’s 2.9% and well below the 8.0% of 2022. Tariffs announced in April
pushed up prices for some imported goods, including furniture, apparel, and
auto parts, but the effect on the overall index was smaller than many
forecasters feared at the start of the year, in part because retailers
absorbed some of the cost and demand for services stayed steady.
The Federal Reserve held its policy rate steady through the first half of the
year, then began cutting again in September, lowering it in three quarter-point
steps to 3.50–3.75% by December.
The federal government shutdown that began October 1 lasted 43 days, and the
Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish a CPI for October 2025 because the
survey data could not be collected. The federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25,
and a first-class stamp rose to 78 cents in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1928 to 2025: $100 is worth $1,883 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2025/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1928 to 2025. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1928-to-2025/