$100 in 1932 is worth $1,313 in 2002,
because prices increased 1213.1% over that period, an average of
3.75% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,313
in 2002
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1213.1%
Average inflation rate
3.75% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,313
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,213
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 2002
179.9
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 2002
1.58%
$100 in 1932 → 2002
$1,313
$100 in 2002 → 1932
$7.62
What happened to prices between 1932 and 2002
Between 1932 and 2002, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 179.9.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1213.1%, which works out to an average of
3.75% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.08 buys in 2002: the 1932 dollar
lost 92.4% of its purchasing power over
these 70 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 2002 at the same ratio, 13.13: $1,000 becomes
$13,131, and $10,000 becomes $131,314.
Amount in 1932
Value in 2002
$1.00
$13.13
$5.00
$65.66
$10.00
$131
$20.00
$263
$50.00
$657
$100
$1,313
$500
$6,566
$1,000
$13,131
$5,000
$65,657
$10,000
$131,314
$100,000
$1,313,139
$1,000,000
$13,131,387
Inflation by spending category, 1932–2002
Between 1932 and 2002, food rose the most, up 1546.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 535.9%, against 1213.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 2002, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.75%
$1,313
Food
4.08%
$1,647
Apparel
2.68%
$636
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 2002
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 1932–2002 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
2000–2002
2.21%
4.5%
$1,313
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $244 by
1967, on its way to $1,313 in 2002; 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: 2002
In 2002, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,313; the year's average CPI of 179.9 is the level
behind every 2002 figure on this page.
The CPI rose 1.6% in 2002, the lowest annual rate of the decade so far, with gasoline down to an
average of $1.36 a gallon and slack in the labor market keeping wage pressure low. The median
household earned about $42,400, and a new home cost roughly $187,600, an increase of about 7%
from the year before as low mortgage rates began to lift housing. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate to 1.25% in November. Stocks were moving the other way: after the Enron and WorldCom
scandals, the S&P 500 hit its bear-market low on October 9, about 49% below its March 2000
peak, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July to tighten corporate accounting rules.
On January 1, euro banknotes and coins replaced national currencies in 12 European countries. A
first-class stamp rose to 37 cents in June, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 2002: $100 is worth $1,313 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2002/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 2002. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2002/