$100 in 1932 is worth $1,145 in 1996,
because prices increased 1045.3% over that period, an average of
3.88% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,145
in 1996
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1045.3%
Average inflation rate
3.88% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,145
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,045
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1996
156.9
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1996
2.95%
$100 in 1932 → 1996
$1,145
$100 in 1996 → 1932
$8.73
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1996
Between 1932 and 1996, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 156.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1045.3%, which works out to an average of
3.88% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.09 buys in 1996: the 1932 dollar
lost 91.3% of its purchasing power over
these 64 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 1996 at the same ratio, 11.45: $1,000 becomes
$11,453, and $10,000 becomes $114,526.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1996
$1.00
$11.45
$5.00
$57.26
$10.00
$115
$20.00
$229
$50.00
$573
$100
$1,145
$500
$5,726
$1,000
$11,453
$5,000
$57,263
$10,000
$114,526
$100,000
$1,145,255
$1,000,000
$11,452,555
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1996
Between 1932 and 1996, food rose the most, up 1332.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 575.4%, against 1045.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1996, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.88%
$1,145
Food
4.25%
$1,433
Apparel
3.03%
$675
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 1996
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 1932–1996 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
1990–1996
3.09%
20.0%
$1,145
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $220 by
1962, on its way to $1,145 in 1996; 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: 1996
In 1996, prices rose 3.0% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,145; the year's average CPI of 156.9 is the level
behind every 1996 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $35,500 in 1996, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, up noticeably
from the mid-decade lull, and a new home cost roughly $140,000. Inflation ran at 3.0% for the
year, ticking back up from 1995 as energy prices firmed. Washington passed two of the decade’s
more consequential laws that year: in February, the Telecommunications Act rewrote the rules for
phone, cable, and broadcast media for the first time since 1934, opening local markets to
competition and easing ownership limits; in August, a welfare overhaul ended the federal
guarantee of cash assistance, replacing it with block grants to states and time limits on
benefits. In October, the federal minimum wage rose to $4.75 an hour, its first increase in five
years and the opening step of a two-part law that would take it to $5.15 the following
September. Two sweeping new laws and a minimum wage finally on the move again made 1996 a year
that changed more about how the economy was governed than about how fast prices moved.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1996: $100 is worth $1,145 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1996/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1996. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1996/