$100 in 1932 is worth $1,833 in 2018,
because prices increased 1732.9% over that period, an average of
3.44% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$1,833
in 2018
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1732.9%
Average inflation rate
3.44% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,833
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,733
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 2018
251.107
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 2018
2.44%
$100 in 1932 → 2018
$1,833
$100 in 2018 → 1932
$5.46
What happened to prices between 1932 and 2018
Between 1932 and 2018, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 251.107.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1732.9%, which works out to an average of
3.44% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.05 buys in 2018: the 1932 dollar
lost 94.5% of its purchasing power over
these 86 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 2018 at the same ratio, 18.33: $1,000 becomes
$18,329, and $10,000 becomes $183,290.
Amount in 1932
Value in 2018
$1.00
$18.33
$5.00
$91.64
$10.00
$183
$20.00
$367
$50.00
$916
$100
$1,833
$500
$9,164
$1,000
$18,329
$5,000
$91,645
$10,000
$183,290
$100,000
$1,832,898
$1,000,000
$18,328,978
Inflation by spending category, 1932–2018
Between 1932 and 2018, food rose the most, up 2269.7%, while apparel rose the least, up 544.4%, against 1732.9% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 2018, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.44%
$1,833
Food
3.75%
$2,370
Apparel
2.19%
$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 2018
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 1932–2018 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
2010–2018
1.78%
15.2%
$1,833
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $442 by
1977, on its way to $1,833 in 2018; 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: 2018
In 2018, prices rose 2.4% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $1,833; the year's average CPI of 251.107 is the level
behind every 2018 figure on this page.
2018 was the peak of the late-2010s expansion. Consumer prices rose 2.4%,
the fastest since 2011, with gasoline averaging $2.72 a gallon after a summer
high. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in September, the lowest since 1969, and median
household income reached $63,179. The median new home sold for about $331,800,
and a first-class stamp cost 50 cents. The federal minimum wage was still $7.25.
Trade policy became a price factor for the first time in decades. New tariffs
on steel, aluminum, and a growing list of Chinese goods raised costs for
manufacturers and some consumer products, and retaliation cut into exports of
soybeans and other farm goods.
The Federal Reserve, led from February by Jerome Powell, raised rates four
times to 2.25–2.50%. A stock-market drop of nearly 20% in the fourth quarter
led the Fed to signal a pause in early 2019. Oil fell from over $75 a barrel in
October to below $50 by December, which pulled headline inflation lower going
into the next year.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 2018: $100 is worth $1,833 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2018/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 2018. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2018/