$100 in 1932 is worth $1,592 in 2010,
because prices increased 1491.6% over that period, an average of
3.61% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,592
in 2010
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1491.6%
Average inflation rate
3.61% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,592
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,492
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 2010
218.056
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 2010
1.64%
$100 in 1932 → 2010
$1,592
$100 in 2010 → 1932
$6.28
What happened to prices between 1932 and 2010
Between 1932 and 2010, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 218.056.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1491.6%, which works out to an average of
3.61% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2010: the 1932 dollar
lost 93.7% of its purchasing power over
these 78 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 2010 at the same ratio, 15.92: $1,000 becomes
$15,916, and $10,000 becomes $159,165.
Amount in 1932
Value in 2010
$1.00
$15.92
$5.00
$79.58
$10.00
$159
$20.00
$318
$50.00
$796
$100
$1,592
$500
$7,958
$1,000
$15,916
$5,000
$79,582
$10,000
$159,165
$100,000
$1,591,650
$1,000,000
$15,916,496
Inflation by spending category, 1932–2010
Between 1932 and 2010, food rose the most, up 1952.6%, while apparel rose the least, up 512.8%, against 1491.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 2010, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.61%
$1,592
Food
3.95%
$2,053
Apparel
2.35%
$613
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 2010
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 1932–2010 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
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,592
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $305 by
1972, on its way to $1,592 in 2010; 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: 2010
In 2010, prices rose 1.6% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,592; the year's average CPI of 218.056 is the level
behind every 2010 figure on this page.
2010 was a year of recovery without much price pressure. The CPI rose 1.6%, a
return to growth after 2009’s deflation, with gasoline averaging $2.78 a
gallon as energy prices climbed back from their recession lows. Housing costs
barely moved: millions of foreclosed and vacant homes kept rents soft, and the
median new home sold for about $221,800. The federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, the level set in July 2009, and a first-class stamp cost 44 cents.
The Federal Reserve was more worried about too little inflation than too
much. Its policy rate sat at 0–0.25%, and in November it announced a further
$600 billion of Treasury purchases to hold down long-term borrowing costs.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act in July to tighten financial regulation,
while a 110 billion euro rescue of Greece in May showed that the crisis had
moved from American mortgages to European government debt. For anyone
comparing dollars across the decade, 2010 is a useful baseline: prices were
still close to their 2008 levels, and the years ahead brought a slow, steady
climb.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 2010: $100 is worth $1,592 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2010/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 2010. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2010/