Between 1900 and 2025, US consumer prices rose by 3775.2%. That means $100 then had roughly the same buying power as $3,875 now — an average of 2.97% inflation per year over 125 years.
What $100 in 1900 was worth at each following decade, adjusted for consumer price inflation.
Inflation adjustment uses the ratio of the Consumer Price Index between the two years — the same method the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics documents for comparing dollar amounts over time.
The index used is CPI-U (all urban consumers, US city average, all items), base period 1982-1984 = 100. Inflation in 1900 itself ran at 0.0%. The 2025 figure is the latest annual average available and may be revised by BLS.
Note: other inflation calculators may show slightly different results because some use a specific month rather than the annual average, or a different end year. This page uses annual averages throughout, and states both index values above so the arithmetic can be checked.
$100 in 1900 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,875 in 2025. That is an increase of $3,775 over 125 years, or a total price rise of 3775.2%.
Prices rose at an average of 2.97% per year between 1900 and 2025. Compounded over 125 years, that turns $100 into $3,875.
The amount is multiplied by the ratio of the Consumer Price Index in 2025 to the index in 1900: 322.8 divided by 8.3 equals 38.7515. Multiplying $100 by 38.7515 gives $3,875. The index is the CPI-U published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, base period 1982-1984 = 100.
Running the comparison in reverse, $100 in 2025 has roughly the same buying power as $2.58 in 1900.
Use the full inflation tool to compare any amount between any two years, or project what today's money will be worth in the future.
