$100 in 1932 is worth $1,172 in 1997,
because prices increased 1071.5% over that period, an average of
3.86% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,172
in 1997
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1071.5%
Average inflation rate
3.86% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,172
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,072
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 1997
160.5
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
$100 in 1932 → 1997
$1,172
$100 in 1997 → 1932
$8.54
What happened to prices between 1932 and 1997
Between 1932 and 1997, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 160.5.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1071.5%, which works out to an average of
3.86% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.09 buys in 1997: the 1932 dollar
lost 91.5% of its purchasing power over
these 65 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 1997 at the same ratio, 11.72: $1,000 becomes
$11,715, and $10,000 becomes $117,153.
Amount in 1932
Value in 1997
$1.00
$11.72
$5.00
$58.58
$10.00
$117
$20.00
$234
$50.00
$586
$100
$1,172
$500
$5,858
$1,000
$11,715
$5,000
$58,577
$10,000
$117,153
$100,000
$1,171,533
$1,000,000
$11,715,328
Inflation by spending category, 1932–1997
Between 1932 and 1997, food rose the most, up 1370.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 581.5%, against 1071.5% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 1997, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.86%
$1,172
Food
4.22%
$1,470
Apparel
3.00%
$682
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 1997
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 1932–1997 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
1990–1997
2.98%
22.8%
$1,172
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $220 by
1962, on its way to $1,172 in 1997; 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: 1997
In 1997, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,172; the year's average CPI of 160.5 is the level
behind every 1997 figure on this page.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 1997: $100 is worth $1,172 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1997/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 1997. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-1997/