$100 in 1932 is worth $1,752 in 2016,
because prices increased 1651.9% over that period, an average of
3.47% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,752
in 2016
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1651.9%
Average inflation rate
3.47% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,752
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,652
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 2016
240.007
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 2016
1.26%
$100 in 1932 → 2016
$1,752
$100 in 2016 → 1932
$5.71
What happened to prices between 1932 and 2016
Between 1932 and 2016, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 240.007.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1651.9%, which works out to an average of
3.47% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2016: the 1932 dollar
lost 94.3% of its purchasing power over
these 84 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 2016 at the same ratio, 17.52: $1,000 becomes
$17,519, and $10,000 becomes $175,188.
Amount in 1932
Value in 2016
$1.00
$17.52
$5.00
$87.59
$10.00
$175
$20.00
$350
$50.00
$876
$100
$1,752
$500
$8,759
$1,000
$17,519
$5,000
$87,594
$10,000
$175,188
$100,000
$1,751,876
$1,000,000
$17,518,759
Inflation by spending category, 1932–2016
Between 1932 and 2016, food rose the most, up 2217.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 546.4%, against 1651.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 2016, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.47%
$1,752
Food
3.81%
$2,317
Apparel
2.25%
$646
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 2016
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 1932–2016 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
2010–2016
1.61%
10.1%
$1,752
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $305 by
1972, on its way to $1,752 in 2016; 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: 2016
In 2016, prices rose 1.3% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,752; the year's average CPI of 240.007 is the level
behind every 2016 figure on this page.
2016 opened with the cheapest oil in more than a decade and closed with a
change in political direction. Crude fell to about $26 a barrel in February,
and gasoline averaged $2.14 a gallon for the year, its lowest annual
average since 2004. Headline inflation was 1.3%, a modest rebound from 2015’s
0.1%, though prices excluding food and energy rose faster, driven by rents and
health care.
Median household income rose to $59,039, the second large gain in a row, and
the median new home sold for about $307,800. The federal minimum wage held at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp fell to 47 cents after a January rate cut, a
rare decrease.
Two votes changed the outlook. Britain’s June decision to leave the European
Union unsettled currency markets, and the U.S. election in November raised
expectations of tax cuts, deficits, and faster growth, sending long-term
interest rates higher. OPEC’s November output cut ended the oil slump, and the
Federal Reserve made its second rate increase in December, to 0.50–0.75%.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 2016: $100 is worth $1,752 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2016/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 2016. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2016/