$100 in 1933 is worth $1,362 in 2001,
because prices increased 1262.3% over that period, an average of
3.92% a year.
$100 in 1933 has
the same buying power as
$1,362
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1262.3%
Average inflation rate
3.92% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,362
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,262
CPI in 1933
13
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1933
-5.11%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1933 → 2001
$1,362
$100 in 2001 → 1933
$7.34
What happened to prices between 1933 and 2001
Between 1933 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 13 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1262.3%, which works out to an average of
3.92% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1933 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2001: the 1933 dollar
lost 92.7% of its purchasing power over
these 68 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.
Every 1933 amount converts to 2001 at the same ratio, 13.62: $1,000 becomes
$13,623, and $10,000 becomes $136,231.
Amount in 1933
Value in 2001
$1.00
$13.62
$5.00
$68.12
$10.00
$136
$20.00
$272
$50.00
$681
$100
$1,362
$500
$6,812
$1,000
$13,623
$5,000
$68,115
$10,000
$136,231
$100,000
$1,362,308
$1,000,000
$13,623,077
Inflation by spending category, 1933–2001
Between 1933 and 2001, food rose the most, up 1564.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 577.1%, against 1262.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1933
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1933 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.92%
$1,362
Food
4.22%
$1,664
Apparel
2.85%
$677
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 2001
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 1933–2001 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
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$1,362
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1933
$100 from 1933 had already become $268 by
1968, on its way to $1,362 in 2001; 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.
Long periods are sampled every 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2001
In 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1933 had the buying
power of $1,362; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1933 to 2001: $100 is worth $1,362 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1933-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1933 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1933-to-2001/