$100 in 1928 has the buying power of $1,970.41 in September 2026. Prices are 1,870.4% higher, an average of 3.08% a year, by the official Consumer Price Index (CPI-U): 1928's average index was 17.1 and September 2026's is 336.940. Put the other way, $100 in September 2026 buys what $5.08 did in 1928.
Inflation in 1928 was −1.7% (the change in the year's average CPI from 1927; December to December, −1.2%), one of the 13 years prices fell since 1914.
| Year | Average CPI-U | Inflation | $100 then is worth today |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | 17.1 | +1.8% | $1,970.41 |
| 1924 | 17.1 | 0.0% | $1,970.41 |
| 1925 | 17.5 | +2.3% | $1,925.37 |
| 1926 | 17.7 | +1.1% | $1,903.62 |
| 1927 | 17.4 | −1.7% | $1,936.44 |
| 1928 | 17.1 | −1.7% | $1,970.41 |
| 1929 | 17.1 | 0.0% | $1,970.41 |
| 1930 | 16.7 | −2.3% | $2,017.60 |
| 1931 | 15.2 | −9.0% | $2,216.71 |
| 1932 | 13.7 | −9.9% | $2,459.42 |
| 1933 | 13.0 | −5.1% | $2,591.85 |
3.08% a year, compounded from the middle of 1928 to September 2026: prices are 1,870.4% higher in all, so a dollar from 1928 is worth $19.70 today.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, which runs back to January 1913. A year's figure is the average of its monthly indexes, as BLS computes annual averages; today's figure is the latest month, September 2026, so the answer moves each month when BLS publishes a new CPI.
1927 · Inflation calculator, any month since 1913 · 1929
Source: BLS CPI-U, all items, U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted (FRED CPIAUCNS); through 2006, BLS's official annual averages. The answer moves each month, when BLS publishes a new CPI.