$100 in 1863 is worth $2,171.17 today

Buying power of $100 in 1863

This chart shows a calculation of buying power equivalence for $100 in 1863 (price index tracking began in 1635).

For example, if you started with $100, you would need to end with $2,171.17 in order to "adjust" for inflation (sometimes refered to as "beating inflation").

When $100 is equivalent to $2,171.17 over time, that means that the "real value" of a single U.S. dollar decreases over time. In other words, a dollar will pay for fewer items at the store.

This effect explains how inflation erodes the value of a dollar over time. By calculating the value in 1863 dollars, the chart below shows how $100 is worth less over 158 years.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, each of these USD amounts below is equal in terms of what it could buy at the time:

This conversion table shows various other 1863 amounts in today's dollars, based on the 2,071.17% change in prices:

Inflation by Country

Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £100.00 in 1863 would be equivalent to £12,888.34 in 2021, an absolute change of £12,788.34 and a cumulative change of 12,788.34%.

Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $2,071.17 and total percent change of 2,071.17%.

Inflation by Spending Category

CPI is the weighted combination of many categories of spending that are tracked by the government. Breaking down these categories helps explain the main drivers behind price changes. This chart shows the average rate of inflation for select CPI categories between 1863 and 2021.

Compare these values to the overall average of 1.97% per year:

The graph below compares inflation in categories of goods over time. Click on a category such as "Food" to toggle it on or off:

For all these visualizations, it's important to note that not all categories may have been tracked since 1863. This table and charts use the earliest available data for each category.

How to Calculate Inflation Rate for $100 since 1863

Our calculations use the following inflation rate formula to calculate the change in value between 1863 and today:

Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 12.6 in the year 1863 and 273.567 in 2021:

$100 in 1863 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $2,171.17 in 2021.

To get the total inflation rate for the 158 years between 1863 and 2021, we use the following formula:

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

News headlines from 1863

Politics and news often influence economic performance. Here's what was happening at the time:

• Slavery ends in the Unites States, after President Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, setting all slaves free.
• Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, enters gardens of Rivden and makes the declaration of aha'u'llah during the short time he spent there
• The Union wins a major victory in the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest of the Civil War.

Data Source & Citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI), established in 1913. Inflation data from 1665 to 1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University.

» Read more about inflation and investment.