Between 1920 and 2025, US consumer prices rose by 1514.0%. That means $300,000 then had roughly the same buying power as $4,842,000 now — an average of 2.68% inflation per year over 105 years.
What $300,000 in 1920 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 1920 itself ran at 15.6%. 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.
$300,000 in 1920 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $4,842,000 in 2025. That is an increase of $4,542,000 over 105 years, or a total price rise of 1514.0%.
Prices rose at an average of 2.68% per year between 1920 and 2025. Compounded over 105 years, that turns $300,000 into $4,842,000.
The amount is multiplied by the ratio of the Consumer Price Index in 2025 to the index in 1920: 322.8 divided by 20.0 equals 16.1400. Multiplying $300,000 by 16.1400 gives $4,842,000. 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, $300,000 in 2025 has roughly the same buying power as $18,587 in 1920.
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.
