Waiting Skeleton

That is mathematically wrong.

If $6 000 in 1930 equals $97 000 today, the inflation since 1930 is $97 000 / $6 000 ≈ 1 616.667 %.

To get what $280 000 would have been worth in 1930, you have to DEVIDE by 1 616.667 % (16.16667 in decimal form as you would write on a calculator). This means you have to put $280 000 / 1 616.667 % ≈ $17 320

$17 320 in 1930 is still much more than $6 000 in 1930, but it's not 4.5 million.

What you did wrong was that you, instead of deviding $280 000 by 1 616.667 %, you multiplied by 1 616.667 %. $280 000 • 1 616.667 % ≈ $4 526 667, which is roughly what you got, but you did some rounding errors too.

You know you can Google a inflation calculator? My brain is not that big... But yes the ball is in the park.

If today was 1930 and you had 280,000 dollars, the value of your money in 1930 would be that of a millionaire.

I'm giving you a upvote just for racking your brain.

Here is another one for you. Minimum wage in the 30s was .25 c how many hours would a homebuyers have to work to pay off a 6,000 dollar mortgage. We'll leave interest out of the equation.