$100 in 1932 is worth $954 in 1990,
because prices increased 854.0% over that period, an average of
3.97% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$954
in 1990
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
854.0%
Average inflation rate
3.97% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$954
Price difference ($100 base)
$854
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1990
130.7
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1990
5.40%
$100 in 1932 → 1990
$954
$100 in 1990 → 1932
$10.48
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1990
Between 1932 and 1990, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 130.7.
Cumulatively, prices increased 854.0%, which works out to an average of
3.97% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.10 buys in 1990: the 1932 dollar
lost 89.5% of its purchasing power over
these 58 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 1990 at the same ratio, 9.54: $1,000 becomes
$9,540, and $10,000 becomes $95,401.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1990
$1.00
$9.54
$5.00
$47.70
$10.00
$95.40
$20.00
$191
$50.00
$477
$100
$954
$500
$4,770
$1,000
$9,540
$5,000
$47,701
$10,000
$95,401
$100,000
$954,015
$1,000,000
$9,540,146
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1990
Between 1932 and 1990, food rose the most, up 1137.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 536.4%, against 854.0% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1990, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.97%
$954
Food
4.43%
$1,237
Apparel
3.24%
$636
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 1990
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 1932–1990 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
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$954
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $216 by
1960, on its way to $954 in 1990; 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: 1990
In 1990, prices rose 5.4% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $954; the year's average CPI of 130.7 is the level
behind every 1990 figure on this page.
In 1990, the median U.S. household earned about $29,900, gas averaged $1.15 a
gallon, and mailing a letter cost a quarter. Inflation ran hot at 5.4% for the
year, its highest rate since 1982, pushed up by an oil shock after Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait, and the economy tipped into recession that summer. It was
the last gasp of elevated inflation before the long calm of the 1990s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1990: $100 is worth $954 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1990/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1990. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1990/