[packs]

The calculator is a strict interpretation of past wealth to today's wealth, but like I said it ignores a lot. The purchasing power of $80,000 in 1930 was much higher than it's conversion today. You need only to look at the relative cost of things. In 1930, it cost $400 a year to go to Penn State. In today's dollars that $400 tuition would only amount to $5,863, which would not get you an education at Penn State. In 1930 the average cost of a new home was $7,145. Today that $7,145 equates to just over $100,000, but the average price for a new house is listed as $368,100 by the census.