$100 in 1932 is worth $1,257 in 2000,
because prices increased 1156.9% over that period, an average of
3.79% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,257
in 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1156.9%
Average inflation rate
3.79% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,257
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,157
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 2000
172.2
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 2000
3.36%
$100 in 1932 → 2000
$1,257
$100 in 2000 → 1932
$7.96
What happened to prices between 1932 and 2000
Between 1932 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 172.2.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1156.9%, which works out to an average of
3.79% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2000: the 1932 dollar
lost 92.0% of its purchasing power over
these 68 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 2000 at the same ratio, 12.57: $1,000 becomes
$12,569, and $10,000 becomes $125,693.
Amount in 1932
Value in 2000
$1.00
$12.57
$5.00
$62.85
$10.00
$126
$20.00
$251
$50.00
$628
$100
$1,257
$500
$6,285
$1,000
$12,569
$5,000
$62,847
$10,000
$125,693
$100,000
$1,256,934
$1,000,000
$12,569,343
Inflation by spending category, 1932–2000
Between 1932 and 2000, food rose the most, up 1468.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 564.6%, against 1156.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 2000, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.79%
$1,257
Food
4.13%
$1,568
Apparel
2.82%
$665
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 2000
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 1932–2000 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
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$1,257
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $244 by
1967, on its way to $1,257 in 2000; 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: 2000
In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,257; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level
behind every 2000 figure on this page.
Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing
above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about
$42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal
Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By
then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and
lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet,
which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to
fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that
would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33
cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back
down.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 2000: $100 is worth $1,257 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2000/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2000/