$100 in 1932 is worth $415 in 1976,
because prices increased 315.3% over that period, an average of
3.29% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$415
in 1976
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
315.3%
Average inflation rate
3.29% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$415
Price difference ($100 base)
$315
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1976
56.9
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1976
5.76%
$100 in 1932 → 1976
$415
$100 in 1976 → 1932
$24.08
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1976
Between 1932 and 1976, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 56.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 315.3%, which works out to an average of
3.29% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.24 buys in 1976: the 1932 dollar
lost 75.9% of its purchasing power over
these 44 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 1976 at the same ratio, 4.15: $1,000 becomes
$4,153, and $10,000 becomes $41,533.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1976
$1.00
$4.15
$5.00
$20.77
$10.00
$41.53
$20.00
$83.07
$50.00
$208
$100
$415
$500
$2,077
$1,000
$4,153
$5,000
$20,766
$10,000
$41,533
$100,000
$415,328
$1,000,000
$4,153,285
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1976
Between 1932 and 1976, food rose the most, up 475.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 285.6%, against 315.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1976, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.29%
$415
Food
4.06%
$576
Apparel
3.12%
$386
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 1976
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.59% a year, and slowest in the 1930s (0.27% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1932–1976 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
1970–1976
6.59%
46.6%
$415
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $196 by
1954, on its way to $415 in 1976; 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: 1976
In 1976, prices rose 5.8% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $415; the year's average CPI of 56.9 is the level
behind every 1976 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 5.8% in 1976, the calmest pace since 1972,
as the economy pulled out of the 1973-75 recession and price growth settled
to roughly half its 1974 peak. The recovery gave Americans
room to celebrate: tall ships filled New York Harbor and fireworks lit cities
nationwide on July 4 for the country’s bicentennial, a rare moment of shared
celebration after Vietnam and Watergate. Politically, Jimmy Carter, a former
Georgia governor running as a Washington outsider, defeated incumbent Gerald
Ford that November, campaigning on restoring trust in government and bringing
down inflation and unemployment together. In a California garage, Steve
Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer that April to
sell the Apple I, a bare circuit board aimed at electronics hobbyists, a
business that looked far from consequential at the time. First-class
postage, which had risen to 13 cents that past December 31, held there
through the year, the longest stretch without a rate change since the Postal
Service’s creation. A median household earned $12,686 in 1976, a new home
sold for a median $44,200, and gas averaged 59 cents a gallon. Consumer
prices stood 474.7% above their 1913 level, a calm interlude
before inflation turned back up.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1976: $100 is worth $415 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1976/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1976. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1976/