$100 in 1932 is worth $360 in 1974,
because prices increased 259.9% over that period, an average of
3.10% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$360
in 1974
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
259.9%
Average inflation rate
3.10% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$360
Price difference ($100 base)
$260
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1974
49.3
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1974
11.04%
$100 in 1932 → 1974
$360
$100 in 1974 → 1932
$27.79
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1974
Between 1932 and 1974, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 49.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 259.9%, which works out to an average of
3.10% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.28 buys in 1974: the 1932 dollar
lost 72.2% of its purchasing power over
these 42 years.
Consumer prices fell 9.9% in 1932, the steepest single-year drop in the
CPI’s history to that point and the third straight year of decline following
1930 and 1931. Wages, farm incomes, and
industrial output all kept falling, and Congress tried to arrest the credit
collapse by creating the Reconstruction Finance Corporation that January,
capitalized at $500 million with authority to borrow up to $1.5 billion to
lend directly to banks, railroads, and other struggling businesses. Relief
did not reach ordinary households as quickly. That summer, tens of thousands
of World War I veterans and their families camped in Washington demanding
early payment of a service bonus not due until 1945; in July, U.S. Army
troops under General Douglas MacArthur forcibly dispersed the encampment, an
episode that badly damaged the Hoover administration’s standing months
before an election it was already losing. Voters delivered their verdict on
November 8, electing Franklin D. Roosevelt in a landslide over the
incumbent Hoover on a promise of relief and a “new deal for the American
people.” Roosevelt would not take office until the following March, leaving
a long and difficult transition during the depths of the crisis. First-class
postage rose from 2 cents to 3 cents on July 6, the first change to the rate
since 1919.
Every 1932 amount converts to 1974 at the same ratio, 3.60: $1,000 becomes
$3,599, and $10,000 becomes $35,985.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1974
$1.00
$3.60
$5.00
$17.99
$10.00
$35.99
$20.00
$71.97
$50.00
$180
$100
$360
$500
$1,799
$1,000
$3,599
$5,000
$17,993
$10,000
$35,985
$100,000
$359,854
$1,000,000
$3,598,540
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1974
Between 1932 and 1974, food rose the most, up 415.0%, while apparel rose the least, up 255.9%, against 259.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1974, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.10%
$360
Food
3.98%
$515
Apparel
3.07%
$356
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1932: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1932 to 1974
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.17% a year, and slowest in the 1930s (0.27% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1932–1974 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1932, at end
1932–1940
0.27%
2.2%
$102
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$176
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$216
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$283
1970–1974
6.17%
27.1%
$360
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $193 by
1952, on its way to $360 in 1974; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 14.4% in 1947, and prices fell 5.1% in 1933, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 2 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1974
In 1974, prices rose 11.0% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $360; the year's average CPI of 49.3 is the level
behind every 1974 figure on this page.
1974 was the year the postwar economy broke its old rules. Consumer prices
rose 11.0%, the fastest annual increase since 1947, as the Arab oil embargo
that ran from October 1973 to March 1974 roughly quadrupled the price of
crude oil worldwide. Gasoline, which had averaged 38.5 cents a gallon in
1973, jumped to 53.2 cents, and shortages forced many states into odd-even
rationing at the pump. Nixon’s wage and price controls, in place in some form
since 1971, expired at the end of April, removing the last brake on prices
just as the oil shock hit. Nixon himself resigned in August over Watergate,
and Gerald Ford’s response to inflation, a voluntary “Whip Inflation Now”
campaign built around lapel buttons, became a symbol of how little
conventional politics could do against the problem. Prices kept climbing even
as the economy weakened: a recession that started in November 1973 dragged
on, the Dow fell to a bear-market bottom of 577.60 in December, and
unemployment was already rising toward the 9% it would reach in 1975. The
combination of rising prices and a shrinking economy gave the decade its
name: stagflation.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1974: $100 is worth $360 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1974/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1974. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1974/