$100 in 1932 is worth $2,224 in 2023,
because prices increased 2124.1% over that period, an average of
3.47% a year.
$100 in 1932 has
the same buying power as
$2,224
in 2023
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
2124.1%
Average inflation rate
3.47% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$2,224
Price difference ($100 base)
$2,124
CPI in 1932
13.7
CPI in 2023
304.702
Inflation in 1932
-9.87%
Inflation in 2023
4.12%
$100 in 1932 → 2023
$2,224
$100 in 2023 → 1932
$4.50
What happened to prices between 1932 and 2023
Between 1932 and 2023, the Consumer Price Index went from 13.7 to 304.702.
Cumulatively, prices increased 2124.1%, which works out to an average of
3.47% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1932 bought what
$0.04 buys in 2023: the 1932 dollar
lost 95.5% of its purchasing power over
these 91 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 2023 at the same ratio, 22.24: $1,000 becomes
$22,241, and $10,000 becomes $222,410.
Amount in 1932
Value in 2023
$1.00
$22.24
$5.00
$111
$10.00
$222
$20.00
$445
$50.00
$1,112
$100
$2,224
$500
$11,121
$1,000
$22,241
$5,000
$111,205
$10,000
$222,410
$100,000
$2,224,102
$1,000,000
$22,241,022
Inflation by spending category, 1932–2023
Between 1932 and 2023, food rose the most, up 2918.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 569.6%, against 2124.1% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1932
spending costs in 2023, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1932 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.47%
$2,224
Food
3.82%
$3,018
Apparel
2.11%
$670
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 2023
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 1932–2023 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
2010–2020
1.73%
18.7%
$1,889
2020–2023
5.59%
17.7%
$2,224
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1932
$100 from 1932 had already become $442 by
1977, on its way to $2,224 in 2023; 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: 2023
In 2023, prices rose 4.1% and $100 from 1932 had the buying
power of $2,224; the year's average CPI of 304.702 is the level
behind every 2023 figure on this page.
2023 was the year inflation came down without a recession. Consumer prices
rose 4.1% on average, roughly half of 2022’s 8.0%, and the December-to-December
rate fell to 3.4%. Gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon, well below the 2022
average, and supply-chain pressure on goods eased. Shelter, restaurant meals,
and other services stayed expensive, so the CPI kept rising at a rate well
above the pre-pandemic pace.
The Federal Reserve completed its rate-hiking campaign in July, taking the
policy rate to 5.25–5.50%, the highest level in 22 years. The effects showed
up in banking: Silicon Valley Bank failed in March after rate increases eroded
the value of its bond portfolio, the second-largest bank failure in U.S.
history at the time. Despite that, unemployment stayed under 4% all year.
Median household income was $80,610 according to the Census Bureau. The
federal minimum wage stayed at $7.25, and a first-class stamp rose to 66 cents
in July.
MLA: “Inflation from 1932 to 2023: $100 is worth $2,224 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2023/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1932 to 2023. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1932-to-2023/