$100 in 1932 is worth $1,343 in 2003,
because prices increased 1243.1% over that period, an average of
3.73% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,343
in 2003
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1243.1%
Average inflation rate
3.73% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,343
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,243
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 2003
184
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 2003
2.28%
$100 in 1932 → 2003
$1,343
$100 in 2003 → 1932
$7.45
What happened to prices between 1932 and 2003
Between 1932 and 2003, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 184.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1243.1%, which works out to an average of
3.73% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2003: the 1932 dollar
lost 92.6% of its purchasing power over
these 71 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 2003 at the same ratio, 13.43: $1,000 becomes
$13,431, and $10,000 becomes $134,307.
Amount in 1932
Value in 2003
$1.00
$13.43
$5.00
$67.15
$10.00
$134
$20.00
$269
$50.00
$672
$100
$1,343
$500
$6,715
$1,000
$13,431
$5,000
$67,153
$10,000
$134,307
$100,000
$1,343,066
$1,000,000
$13,430,657
Inflation by spending category, 1932–2003
Between 1932 and 2003, food rose the most, up 1582.2%, while apparel rose the least, up 520.0%, against 1243.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 2003, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.73%
$1,343
Food
4.06%
$1,682
Apparel
2.60%
$620
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 2003
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 1932–2003 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
2000–2003
2.23%
6.9%
$1,343
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $244 by
1967, on its way to $1,343 in 2003; 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: 2003
In 2003, prices rose 2.3% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,343; the year's average CPI of 184 is the level
behind every 2003 figure on this page.
Inflation was 2.3% in 2003, up from 1.6% in 2002, as gasoline climbed from $1.36 to $1.59 a
gallon around the March invasion of Iraq. Even so, the Federal Reserve spent the year worried
about prices being too low: on June 25 it cut its policy rate to 1.0%, the lowest since 1958,
and said the risk of deflation, though small, deserved a response. The median household earned
about $43,300 and a new home cost roughly $195,000. Congress passed a second round of tax cuts
in May, and the economy grew faster in the second half of the year than at any point since
1999. Hiring lagged the recovery, and unemployment peaked at 6.3% in June. A first-class stamp
stayed at 37 cents and the federal minimum wage at $5.15.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 2003: $100 is worth $1,343 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2003/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 2003. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2003/