$100 in 1932 is worth $864 in 1988,
because prices increased 763.5% over that period, an average of
3.92% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$864
in 1988
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
763.5%
Average inflation rate
3.92% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$864
Price difference ($100 base)
$764
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1988
118.3
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1988
4.14%
$100 in 1932 → 1988
$864
$100 in 1988 → 1932
$11.58
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1988
Between 1932 and 1988, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 118.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 763.5%, which works out to an average of
3.92% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.12 buys in 1988: the 1932 dollar
lost 88.4% of its purchasing power over
these 56 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 1988 at the same ratio, 8.64: $1,000 becomes
$8,635, and $10,000 becomes $86,350.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1988
$1.00
$8.64
$5.00
$43.18
$10.00
$86.35
$20.00
$173
$50.00
$432
$100
$864
$500
$4,318
$1,000
$8,635
$5,000
$43,175
$10,000
$86,350
$100,000
$863,504
$1,000,000
$8,635,036
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1988
Between 1932 and 1988, food rose the most, up 1004.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 491.8%, against 763.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1988, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.92%
$864
Food
4.38%
$1,105
Apparel
3.23%
$592
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 1988
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 1932–1988 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
1980–1988
4.62%
43.6%
$864
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $216 by
1960, on its way to $864 in 1988; 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: 1988
In 1988, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $864; the year's average CPI of 118.3 is the level
behind every 1988 figure on this page.
By 1988, the economic expansion that began in the ashes of the 1981-82
recession was in its sixth year, and the Federal Reserve was watching for
signs it had run too long. Inflation rose to 4.1%, up from 3.6% the year
before, while unemployment fell to its lowest level since 1974. Alan
Greenspan’s Fed responded by raising the federal funds rate through the
year, from about 6.5% to 8.5%, trying to cool demand before prices
accelerated the way they had in the 1970s. Households still felt the
difference between this expansion and the last one: gas held near 90 cents
a gallon, almost exactly its 1987 price, and median household income rose
to roughly $27,200. The one price that moved was postage, which rose from
22 to 25 cents in April, the fourth increase of the decade but a far
gentler pace than the string of increases in the late 1970s and early
1980s. In November, Vice President George H.W. Bush won the presidency on
the strength of the expansion, promising in his nomination speech to hold
the line on taxes. Both the boom and that pledge would run into trouble
within two years, as the Fed’s rate increases helped tip the economy toward
the 1990-91 recession.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1988: $100 is worth $864 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1988/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1988. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1988/