$100 in 1932 is worth $442 in 1977,
because prices increased 342.3% over that period, an average of
3.36% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$442
in 1977
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
342.3%
Average inflation rate
3.36% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$442
Price difference ($100 base)
$342
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1977
60.6
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1977
6.50%
$100 in 1932 → 1977
$442
$100 in 1977 → 1932
$22.61
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1977
Between 1932 and 1977, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 60.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 342.3%, which works out to an average of
3.36% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.23 buys in 1977: the 1932 dollar
lost 77.4% of its purchasing power over
these 45 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 1977 at the same ratio, 4.42: $1,000 becomes
$4,423, and $10,000 becomes $44,234.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1977
$1.00
$4.42
$5.00
$22.12
$10.00
$44.23
$20.00
$88.47
$50.00
$221
$100
$442
$500
$2,212
$1,000
$4,423
$5,000
$22,117
$10,000
$44,234
$100,000
$442,336
$1,000,000
$4,423,358
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1977
Between 1932 and 1977, food rose the most, up 512.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 303.1%, against 342.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1977, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.36%
$442
Food
4.11%
$612
Apparel
3.15%
$403
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 1977
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 6.58% a year, and slowest in the 1930s (0.27% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1932–1977 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
1970–1977
6.58%
56.2%
$442
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $196 by
1954, on its way to $442 in 1977; 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: 1977
In 1977, prices rose 6.5% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $442; the year's average CPI of 60.6 is the level
behind every 1977 figure on this page.
Consumer prices rose 6.5% in 1977, ticking back up from 1976’s
5.8% as the economic recovery strengthened, wages climbed, and energy costs
pushed higher again. The year opened with a warning about that energy
dependence: record cold across the Midwest and Northeast in January and
February strained natural gas supplies so badly that schools and factories in
several states shut down for days to conserve fuel. Jimmy Carter, inaugurated
that January, made energy policy a centerpiece of his presidency, and
Congress created the cabinet-level Department of Energy that August to
consolidate programs built up piecemeal since the 1973 oil embargo. Culture
offered some relief from the anxiety: released that May, Star Wars became the
highest-grossing film in history to that point, drawing lines around theater
blocks for months. The year also closed an era in a different way. Elvis
Presley was found dead at his Graceland home on August 16 at age 42, drawing
tens of thousands of mourners to Memphis. A median household earned $13,572
in 1977, a new home sold for a median $48,800, and gas averaged 62 cents a
gallon. Consumer prices stood 512.1% above their 1913 level,
with the energy anxieties of the year setting up the harder shocks of 1978
and 1979.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1977: $100 is worth $442 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1977/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1977. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1977/