U.S. inflation · 1933–2000

Value of $100 in 1933, adjusted to 2000

$100 in 1933 is worth $1,325 in 2000, because prices increased 1224.6% over that period, an average of 3.93% a year.

$100 in 1933 has the same buying power as

$1,325

in 2000

$100$712$1.3k19331950196719832000$100 · 1933$1.3k · 2000
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change1224.6%
Average inflation rate3.93% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)$1,325
Price difference ($100 base)$1,225
CPI in 193313
CPI in 2000172.2
Inflation in 1933-5.11%
Inflation in 20003.36%
$100 in 1933 → 2000$1,325
$100 in 2000 → 1933$7.55

What happened to prices between 1933 and 2000

Between 1933 and 2000, the Consumer Price Index went from 13 to 172.2. Cumulatively, prices increased 1224.6%, which works out to an average of 3.93% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1933 bought what $0.08 buys in 2000: the 1933 dollar lost 92.5% of its purchasing power over these 67 years.

Consumer prices fell 5.1% in 1933, a smaller decline than 1932’s but enough to complete a four-year slide of 24.0% from the 1929 peak. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the trough of that contraction to March 1933, closing out the longest downturn in its chronology, one that had run 43 months since August 1929. The bottom arrived alongside a change in government: Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated March 4 and, within 48 hours, ordered every bank in the country closed to halt a fresh round of runs. Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act on March 9, letting solvent banks reopen under federal supervision, and the panic that had been building for months broke almost immediately. The administration moved on the currency next: Executive Order 6102, issued April 5, required Americans to turn in most gold coin, bullion, and certificates to the Federal Reserve, taking the country off the domestic gold standard (formal devaluation of the dollar followed the next January). Congress capped the year’s banking overhaul in June with the Banking Act of 1933, commonly called Glass-Steagall, which created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and separated commercial banking from investment banking. Even after four straight years of falling prices, the CPI still stood 31.3% above its 1913 level. First-class postage held at 3 cents.

More about inflation in 1933 →

Common amounts: 1933 dollars in 2000

Every 1933 amount converts to 2000 at the same ratio, 13.25: $1,000 becomes $13,246, and $10,000 becomes $132,462.

Amount in 1933Value in 2000
$1.00$13.25
$5.00$66.23
$10.00$132
$20.00$265
$50.00$662
$100$1,325
$500$6,623
$1,000$13,246
$5,000$66,231
$10,000$132,462
$100,000$1,324,615
$1,000,000$13,246,154

Inflation by spending category, 1933–2000

Between 1933 and 2000, food rose the most, up 1513.5%, while apparel rose the least, up 589.4%, against 1224.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1933 spending costs in 2000, by category:

Category Avg. yearly inflation $100 in 1933 →
All items (CPI-U) 3.93% $1,325
Food 4.24% $1,613
Apparel 2.92% $689

Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1933: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).

Decade by decade: 1933 to 2000

Prices climbed fastest in the 1970s, averaging 7.82% a year, and slowest in the 1930s (1.06% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1933–2000 change:

Years Avg. yearly inflation Price change $100 from 1933, at end
1933–1940 1.06% 7.7% $108
1940–1950 5.58% 72.1% $185
1950–1960 2.08% 22.8% $228
1960–1970 2.74% 31.1% $298
1970–1980 7.82% 112.4% $634
1980–1990 4.72% 58.6% $1,005
1990–2000 2.80% 31.8% $1,325

Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1933

$100 from 1933 had already become $268 by 1968, on its way to $1,325 in 2000; 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 2.1% in 1938, the deepest deflation of the period.

Year CPI Inflation rate $100 from 1933
1933 13 -5.1% $100
1938 14.1 -2.1% $108
1943 17.3 6.1% $133
1948 24.1 8.1% $185
1953 26.7 0.8% $205
1958 28.9 2.8% $222
1963 30.6 1.3% $235
1968 34.8 4.2% $268
1973 44.4 6.2% $342
1978 65.2 7.6% $502
1983 99.6 3.2% $766
1988 118.3 4.1% $910
1993 144.5 3.0% $1,112
1998 163 1.6% $1,254
2000 172.2 3.4% $1,325

Long periods are sampled every 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.

The destination year: 2000

In 2000, prices rose 3.4% and $100 from 1933 had the buying power of $1,325; the year's average CPI of 172.2 is the level behind every 2000 figure on this page.

Inflation ran at 3.4% in 2000, the highest annual rate since 1991, as an economy growing above 4% and a rise in oil prices pushed the CPI up. The median household earned about $42,100, gas averaged $1.51 a gallon, and a new home cost roughly $169,000. The Federal Reserve had raised interest rates six times since mid-1999 and stopped at 6.5% in May. By then the stock market had already turned: the Nasdaq hit its record of 5,048 on March 10 and lost about 39% of its value by December. Consumer prices did not reflect the slowdown yet, which is why the Fed held rates high through the year even as technology companies began to fail. In October, Congress granted China permanent normal trade relations, a decision that would help hold down the price of manufactured goods for years. A first-class stamp cost 33 cents and the federal minimum wage was $5.15. The recession of 2001 brought inflation back down.

More about inflation in 2000 →

Cite this page

MLA: “Inflation from 1933 to 2000: $100 is worth $1,325 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1933-to-2000/

APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1933 to 2000. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1933-to-2000/

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages (series CUUR0000SA0; category indexes listed on the data sources page). See how these numbers are calculated.