$100 in 1932 is worth $1,024 in 1992,
because prices increased 924.1% over that period, an average of
3.95% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,024
in 1992
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
924.1%
Average inflation rate
3.95% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,024
Price difference ($100 base)
$924
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1992
140.3
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1992
3.01%
$100 in 1932 → 1992
$1,024
$100 in 1992 → 1932
$9.76
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1992
Between 1932 and 1992, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 140.3.
Cumulatively, prices increased 924.1%, which works out to an average of
3.95% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.10 buys in 1992: the 1932 dollar
lost 90.2% of its purchasing power over
these 60 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 1992 at the same ratio, 10.24: $1,000 becomes
$10,241, and $10,000 becomes $102,409.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1992
$1.00
$10.24
$5.00
$51.20
$10.00
$102
$20.00
$205
$50.00
$512
$100
$1,024
$500
$5,120
$1,000
$10,241
$5,000
$51,204
$10,000
$102,409
$100,000
$1,024,088
$1,000,000
$10,240,876
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1992
Between 1932 and 1992, food rose the most, up 1188.8%, while apparel rose the least, up 576.4%, against 924.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1992, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.95%
$1,024
Food
4.35%
$1,289
Apparel
3.24%
$676
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 1992
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 1932–1992 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
1990–1992
3.61%
7.3%
$1,024
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $220 by
1962, on its way to $1,024 in 1992; 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: 1992
In 1992, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,024; the year's average CPI of 140.3 is the level
behind every 1992 figure on this page.
1992 was the year the recovery finally showed up in the numbers, if not yet in hiring. The
median household earned about $30,600, gas averaged $1.13 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly
$121,500. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the year, its calmest reading since the mid-1980s, as energy
prices stayed well below their 1990 peak and a slack labor market kept a lid on wages and prices
alike. The Federal Reserve kept cutting its policy rate through the year, reaching about 3% by
September, the lowest in decades, trying to jump-start hiring more than a year after the 1990-91
recession officially ended. The sluggish job market became the defining issue of the November
election, and Bill Clinton unseated incumbent George H.W. Bush, whose approval ratings had
fallen sharply from their post-Gulf War highs. In August, Hurricane Andrew tore through South
Florida, the costliest U.S. hurricane on record at the time, causing tens of billions of dollars
in damage and reshaping how insurers priced catastrophe risk for years afterward. Falling rates,
a costly hurricane, and an election fought over jobs defined a recovery that showed up in the
data well before it showed up in most paychecks.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1992: $100 is worth $1,024 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1992/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1992. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1992/