$100 in 1932 is worth $1,112 in 1995,
because prices increased 1012.4% over that period, an average of
3.90% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,112
in 1995
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1012.4%
Average inflation rate
3.90% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,112
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,012
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1995
152.4
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1995
2.83%
$100 in 1932 → 1995
$1,112
$100 in 1995 → 1932
$8.99
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1995
Between 1932 and 1995, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 152.4.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1012.4%, which works out to an average of
3.90% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.09 buys in 1995: the 1932 dollar
lost 91.0% of its purchasing power over
these 63 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 1995 at the same ratio, 11.12: $1,000 becomes
$11,124, and $10,000 becomes $111,241.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1995
$1.00
$11.12
$5.00
$55.62
$10.00
$111
$20.00
$222
$50.00
$556
$100
$1,112
$500
$5,562
$1,000
$11,124
$5,000
$55,620
$10,000
$111,241
$100,000
$1,112,409
$1,000,000
$11,124,088
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1995
Between 1932 and 1995, food rose the most, up 1286.9%, while apparel rose the least, up 576.9%, against 1012.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1995, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.90%
$1,112
Food
4.26%
$1,387
Apparel
3.08%
$677
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 1995
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 1932–1995 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
1990–1995
3.12%
16.6%
$1,112
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $220 by
1962, on its way to $1,112 in 1995; 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 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 1995
In 1995, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,112; the year's average CPI of 152.4 is the level
behind every 1995 figure on this page.
In 1995, gas averaged $1.15 a gallon, a new home cost roughly $133,900, and the median household
earned about $34,100. Inflation ran at 2.8% for the year, little changed from 1994, as the
Federal Reserve shifted from raising rates to cutting them. Having lifted its policy rate six
times the year before, the Fed judged by July that the economy had cooled enough on its own, and
trimmed rates instead, an outcome economists would later point to as a rare soft landing. The
year opened with a currency crisis: Mexico’s peso lost roughly half its value against the dollar
in a matter of weeks, and the U.S. Treasury and the IMF assembled a $50 billion rescue package,
controversial in Congress, to stabilize it and keep the crisis from spreading to other emerging
markets. Closer to home, a budget standoff between President Clinton and the Republican Congress
shut down federal agencies twice, first for five days in November and then for 21 days spanning
December into January 1996, the longest shutdown up to that point. The Postal Service raised the
cost of a first-class stamp to 32 cents in January. Low, steady inflation was about the only calm
part of 1995’s economic story.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1995: $100 is worth $1,112 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1995/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1995. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1995/