$100 in 1932 is worth $1,789 in 2017,
because prices increased 1689.2% over that period, an average of
3.45% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,789
in 2017
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1689.2%
Average inflation rate
3.45% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,789
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,689
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 2017
245.12
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 2017
2.13%
$100 in 1932 → 2017
$1,789
$100 in 2017 → 1932
$5.59
What happened to prices between 1932 and 2017
Between 1932 and 2017, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 245.12.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1689.2%, which works out to an average of
3.45% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.06 buys in 2017: the 1932 dollar
lost 94.4% of its purchasing power over
these 85 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 2017 at the same ratio, 17.89: $1,000 becomes
$17,892, and $10,000 becomes $178,920.
Amount in 1932
Value in 2017
$1.00
$17.89
$5.00
$89.46
$10.00
$179
$20.00
$358
$50.00
$895
$100
$1,789
$500
$8,946
$1,000
$17,892
$5,000
$89,460
$10,000
$178,920
$100,000
$1,789,197
$1,000,000
$17,891,971
Inflation by spending category, 1932–2017
Between 1932 and 2017, food rose the most, up 2237.1%, while apparel rose the least, up 544.2%, against 1689.2% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 2017, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.45%
$1,789
Food
3.78%
$2,337
Apparel
2.22%
$644
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 2017
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 1932–2017 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
2010–2017
1.69%
12.4%
$1,789
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $305 by
1972, on its way to $1,789 in 2017; 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: 2017
In 2017, prices rose 2.1% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,789; the year's average CPI of 245.12 is the level
behind every 2017 figure on this page.
2017 pushed consumer prices back above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The
CPI rose 2.1%, the first reading over 2% in five years, helped by a rebound
in energy after OPEC’s output cuts and by a storm-related spike at the pump:
Hurricane Harvey shut a large part of Gulf Coast refining in late August.
Gasoline averaged $2.42 a gallon, up from $2.14 in 2016.
Household incomes kept rising. The median household income reached $61,372,
and the median new home sold for about $322,100. The federal minimum wage
stayed at $7.25, its eighth year at that level, and a first-class stamp rose
to 49 cents.
The Fed raised rates three times, to 1.25–1.50%, and in October began
letting its bond holdings shrink. Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in December, lowering the corporate rate to 21%. Even with unemployment near
4%, core inflation stayed under 2%, a puzzle that shaped Fed debates for the
next two years.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 2017: $100 is worth $1,789 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2017/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 2017. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2017/