$100 in 1932 is worth $829 in 1987,
because prices increased 729.2% over that period, an average of
3.92% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$829
in 1987
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
729.2%
Average inflation rate
3.92% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$829
Price difference ($100 base)
$729
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1987
113.6
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1987
3.65%
$100 in 1932 → 1987
$829
$100 in 1987 → 1932
$12.06
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1987
Between 1932 and 1987, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 113.6.
Cumulatively, prices increased 729.2%, which works out to an average of
3.92% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.12 buys in 1987: the 1932 dollar
lost 87.9% of its purchasing power over
these 55 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 1987 at the same ratio, 8.29: $1,000 becomes
$8,292, and $10,000 becomes $82,920.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1987
$1.00
$8.29
$5.00
$41.46
$10.00
$82.92
$20.00
$166
$50.00
$415
$100
$829
$500
$4,146
$1,000
$8,292
$5,000
$41,460
$10,000
$82,920
$100,000
$829,197
$1,000,000
$8,291,971
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1987
Between 1932 and 1987, food rose the most, up 960.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 467.2%, against 729.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1987, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.92%
$829
Food
4.39%
$1,061
Apparel
3.21%
$567
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 1987
Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1930s (0.27% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1932–1987 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
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$601
1980–1987
4.69%
37.9%
$829
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $216 by
1960, on its way to $829 in 1987; 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: 1987
In 1987, prices rose 3.6% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $829; the year's average CPI of 113.6 is the level
behind every 1987 figure on this page.
1987 tested whether the disinflation of the 1980s could survive its first
real shock. Paul Volcker, who had run the Federal Reserve since 1979 and
driven inflation down from 13.5% to routine mid-single digits, handed the
chairmanship to Alan Greenspan in August. Inflation for the year came in at
3.6%, edging up as the expansion entered its fifth year and a weaker
dollar, following 1985’s Plaza Accord, pushed up the price of imported
goods. Then, on October 19, the stock market delivered Greenspan’s first
crisis: the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.6% in a single session,
still the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, as computer-driven
“portfolio insurance” trading amplified a global sell-off that had started
days earlier. The Fed responded within 24 hours, publicly pledging to
supply whatever liquidity the banking system needed, and the panic did not
spread to the broader economy. Growth continued and unemployment kept
falling through the rest of the year. It was an early demonstration of what
became known as the “Greenspan put,” a Fed willing to move fast and loosen
policy to contain financial shocks even while still watching inflation,
that shaped central banking for the next two decades.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1987: $100 is worth $829 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1987/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1987. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1987/